My Talk on Helping Other Writers - By Byron Clark at Galena Territory Writers' Group 10-03-25

Through my process of keeping notes to myself, I started by writing a fictional work about my dog and my brother. My older brother passed long ago, and my wife’s and my first dog who was never far from my side in life always will have a space in me. Now they get to walk beside me when I get the chance.

I ended up putting them in an urban fantasy with old immortals trying to find their place in the new world. Most of those ideas came faster than I could write them down. As I found out, I was still trying to figure many of these things myself. It was great to have guides I could trust.

As you may also find while writing, I then had 100 different ideas. Most of which were just that: ideas. With maybe a ten-minute outline saved in that Word doc. I wrote a few of those further into existence, testing out journal entries written by characters and a son imagining himself in epic stories that he told his father at bedtime. I kept writing and was most excited about having my brother and my dog being heroes in their stories, so I wrote outlines and then really bad zero drafts out of as many ideas as I could.

I came to my first meeting here and started writing about my son. I had written that his eyes would change based on his emotions and that he would be running with wild animals. Well, Leon loves the outdoors, and for the first six months his eyes were blue, green, or black based on how the light hit them. So I will be sure to keep writing about him, too.

My learning (and well most of the words I have written) happened while my wife was pregnant and needed to rest often. I wrote in the extra time while she slept. Then Leon came, and there was no sleep for anyone, let alone time to read as much or to have enough ideas to fill pages. Eventually, we got back into a routine, though it was nothing like before.

I was inspired to write more nonfiction as those ideas were easier to grasp. My son and wife pushed me to write about how to best feed your little one, because when you are a first-time parent you have no idea. I mixed in my love for growing my own food, which I got from my parents, and that helped a ton. More nonfiction was inspired by podcasts I listened to about the colonial period and the American Revolution. The main two being The American Revolution Podcast and Benjamin Franklin’s World.

The ideas for fiction are slowly coming back as I get more sleep, and Leon is helping my wife and me slow down and see the world.

Throughout this process I had the hurdle of learning that what I had written in my first draft wasn’t as good as I thought. On rereading, and learning more that became clear, especially when comparing my work with writers I’d been reading before I started. Remember not to compare your first draft with someone’s twentieth. It may be different for some people who can get a first draft very close to what they want as a final draft. For me, it takes a fair amount of editing. When you sit down to write, especially when you are learning, it will take a lot more editing than any amount of writing. But this is also when you can become a much better writer.

Then I figured out how to edit and care less about the first draft. This helped me actually get things done so I had something to work with. Once I got to the end, I could look back and say, “I really didn’t like doing that,” and make a note to try it differently next time or learn from others. Or write down what worked so I hopefully didn’t lose that tool forever. The process of finding an end also let me hear real feedback. Something as simple as “this doesn’t work” shouldn’t discourage you; it means someone cared enough to try to help and be honest. Others will help you bridge the gap between what you think you know and what you should know. My wife, and now others outside my family, have given helpful feedback.

Having others read my work was no small feat in itself, but hearing it wasn’t terrible gave me confidence to try to publish. When I did, the hurdles along the way kept looking smaller each time. When I first felt comfortable enough to publish, I shouldn’t have. I made a ton of mistakes and had to republish my book twelve times to fix minor errors, a hideous book cover, formatting issues, and, in general, to make it a better book.

Giving things time may be the most important step in creating something worth sharing. Review it in a couple of days with fresh eyes if you spent all day staring at a screen and had too much coffee to stay up that late. I have published ten books as of today under various pen names. I have only published one under my name. It may take time to feel comfortable, and I implore you to take your time so you can make what matters to you. Someone else will care and be better for knowing it exists. They may even thoroughly enjoy it, too.

One last thing on sharing your work with others: your books don’t find readers by themselves, no matter the content or even the cover. You have to believe in your work enough to talk about it. That’s the part I’m still learning, to be honest. I hope to have more to share with you the next time you hear from me.

Lately, life has offered more opportunities to learn than to write, but it’s all gone back into the writer’s well. I’ve slowed down a bit these past months, but when I do sit down to write, the words pour out.

My wife and I have been focused on building what I call a “boring business,” and we’ve been able to get our son over 1,000 books read before kindergarten, right after he turned one year old. He was just featured in last week’s Galena paper, and we’re very proud of that. We’ve been taking advantage of every little opportunity before our small town turns into a snow globe for winter.

Let the process take you where it needs to, but find the processes that work best for you.

The last few things I want to leave you with are the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. Short ideas that might help, inspire, or guide you in your own process.

Who

• My brother and my dog.

• My grandmother, the librarian.

• My grandfather and father, both historians in their own way.

• My mother, who has always been the most supportive.

• Finally, my wife and now my son. I started writing shortly after he was conceived.

• These can help remind you of who you write for and give your stories the heart they need.

What

• For myself, I’ve always written about what interests me most and followed that curiosity down every rabbit hole. The more I find—whether it’s a myth, a forgotten truth, or a historical connection—the more I feel it’s something worth passing along.

• “Write what you know” is smart advice. If you have deep knowledge of something, you’ll have insights others don’t, and that will make readers care.

• But if you write long enough, you may run out of what you know—or simply grow tired of it being such a big part of your life. That’s when you have to write what interests you, what makes you want to sit down again.

Where

• My main writing spot is my computer setup in the basement. It is quiet, focused, and reliable. It allows me to have the world fall away around my story.

• But you don’t always have to be at your keyboard to write.

  
  

  I’ve come up with a lot of ideas walking the dogs, talking into my phone, and later making small corrections at my desk. This allows me to step into the world with my story and allow new ideas to be added.

When

• There’s a quote I love: “I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.”

• The line is most often attributed to the British author W. Somerset Maugham.

Why

• I started writing to walk with my characters during downtime. To create the scenes I used to watch or play through, and to keep the people I cared about close enough to still walk beside me.

• Over time, that turned into sharing what I’ve learned. Sharing the things I wish I had known when I first discovered them.

How

• This group (Galena Territory Writer’s Group) has inspired me to grow every time I’ve been here.

• I’ve learned from the wit and brilliance of British authors like Douglas Adams, Joe Abercrombie, and Terry Pratchett.

• When I needed to learn something new, I’d find ten YouTube videos or articles on the subject, look for the common steps, practice them, refine them, and repeat until I improved.

• The more I learned, the more I realized how much I didn’t know. That’s been humbling along with motivating.

• My biggest teachers have been Writing Excuses, Brandon Sanderson’s online BYU classes, random YouTubers I resonated with, and MasterClass.

  
  

Everyone here has a different strength. While some can write great marketing copy, others add a poetic touch that transforms a story, and others just keep the habit of writing every day. Honestly, that’s the hardest part: showing up and being able to find an end. A book worth sharing is never a short process.

This group is a great way to bridge those gaps, to help each other grow and fill in what we don’t yet know. And if there’s ever a step you can’t get across, there are people like Whistle Slick Press who can help.

Until you’re ready, I’d love to help however I can.