A Few Questions for a Friend

Hi everyone!

I've decided to give interviewing a shot. I've met a lot of great people through my blog and many of them have helped me hone my writing and story-telling skills. It's only fair that I spread the word; maybe they'll help someone else too! I'm thinking of posting an interview/introduction every Thursday (at least for the foreseeable future).  So, without further ado...

One of my favorite bloggers is David Powers King. Apart from being one of the nicest people I've met in the blogosphere, he runs one of the most helpful blogs on writing that I've found (visit him here). So, I decided to pick his brain about writing, and this is what he told me:

"Thanks for having me, Reece (if you guys don't already know, Reece is the man!)."


How did you get started as a writer?

I had this idea about aliens, so I took out some paper and a pen during lunch in the early days of my sophomore year and wrote a scene based on it. Ideas kept coming and I kept writing ever since.

I kind of want to know what your idea was...

What was your first complete story?

A short story about a couple kids digging a hole in their backyard, so deep they discover an underground society.

I admire anyone who can write short stories. I've tried and it's hard. Kudos!

What made you decide to write it?

I thought finding a bunch of mole-people would be awesome (and actually tried digging said hole).

My brothers and I dug a giant whole in our grandparents' back yard when we were little...I don't remember why, but we didn't find any mole-people either.

Do you free-write or outline?

Both. Before I start any story, I have to know how it ends. I HAVE to, no matter the outcome. Kind of like the final destination on a road trip. You make a few preplanned stops along the way as well. The time in between? Well, that's where the free-writing comes in. I also draft a character bible to establish their psychological make-up and write copious notes to make sense of the world that I'm about to enter.

I'm glad you've found something that works for you. I'm still in the trial-and-error phase of developing a writing methodology.

What do you do to counteract writer’s block?

I stop and think, think, think. Blocks kick in when the story is not working for me. Maybe I missed a turn and have to retrace my steps to find the right path again. If it's a lack of motivation, I do the dangling carrot method of persuasion with Jelly Bellies. Pretty effective, since that's the only time I'm allowed to eat them.

Very nice! I find I get writer's block in similar situations: either there's a problem with the character(s)—I'm working through this in my current WIP right now—or there's a problem with the plot and I'm trying to make it do things it's not supposed to do.

How do you keep your characters original? (i.e. what do you do to make sure your characters
don’t turn out the same in every story?)

A character bible. I create mini stories about my characters, taking place years before the story actually starts. What happened to them? How did they react? What kind of person have they become because of it? Why is Spider-Man Spider-Man? He used his powers inappropriately and his uncle died as a result. The neat thing about psychology (like snowflakes) is no two people are alike, including their minds. Give each character a different history, likes, dislikes, friends/enemies/crushes, and they will speak for themselves.

You know, I often find myself imagining short little one- or two-scene stories about my characters, but I never thought to use them as background material. I always just figured I was getting too into the character. Thanks for the tip!

What exercises to you use to develop your characters?

I prop a character sheet in front of me and have a conversation with it. I'll ask about their past, what they like, etc. Sounds crazy, but then, isn't a face-to-face talk the best way to learn about a person?

What sort of character sheet do you use?

How do you build a believable world within your stories?

A tangible setting is a good start. Something I can touch, grounded, where the problems of society (if any) are made clear from the beginning. Geography, geology, weather patterns, and botany should be taken into account, too (or astronomy, for us Sci-fi enthusiasts). Get me to believe a setting and its characters and I'll have no problem believing the magic/science. Most of the time, anyway.

I agree. Probably sixty percent of developing a good magic system or a good piece of amazing technology is couching it in a world where it already fits.

What do you do to make your whole story interesting? How do you avoid “slow stretches”?

Keep that tangibility consistent and make the story about the characters rather than the prose. I give just enough detail to paint a scene that you can see in your mind and get back to the characters. I like reading conversation. Well-timed humor and conflict (and crushes) does it for me. That's what I enjoy writing.

This is getting scary; you're giving almost the exact answers I would! I love dialogue! I think you get more out of a good bit of dialogue than any other form of prose...at least as far as fiction is concerned ;)

How does your own life inform your writing?

Life experiences. They find a way into my stories all the time. Often exaggerated (who wants to wrestle with a wild bear, right). Everything I do and look at finds its way into my writing, one way or another.

Have you ever attended a writing convention or conference?

Yep! Just local events like LTUE, LDStorymakers, CONduit, MountainCON, and The Book Academy, as well as a workshop with Orson Scott Card. I really need to check out the bigger gigs like FantasyCON, WorldCON, and so forth.

I wanted to attend a few of these this year, but by the time I found out about them, they were over. Epic. FAIL!!! If you go to any of these next year, maybe we'll actually meet each other.

Who is your favorite author?

Such a hard question, but I pick Orson Scott Card.

Oh, he is a good one! I really need to read more of him though.

Favorite book?

Also a hard question, so I'll go with Ender's Game.

Excellent book, though I thought Ender's Shadow was better.

Favorite genre to read? Favorite genre to write?

Science Fiction and Fantasy x 2.

Me too. I can't make up my mind, so I trade off between the two.

When you’re not writing, what do you do in your spare time?

Be a father. Work. Watch or read something. Or think about what I'm going to write.

What do you do for a living?

What are three interesting facts about you?

I almost had my leg amputated as a toddler, I've had an encounter with a wild bear (a cub--mama bear was close, so I played dead), and I administer psychological assessments (IQ and stuff).

Okay, you and I seriously need to get together. My wife and I are always arguing about my sanity and you could help us settle the dispute once and for all! ;)

So, a big thank you to Dave for being brave enough to be my first interviewee! I hope you all check out his blog because he does a really good job with it.

Is there a writer/blogger that you've learned a lot from? Tell us who! 

A New Experiment: Rach's Platform-Building Campaign

So, I decided to join in the latest Campaign (organized by Rachael over at Rach Writes...). I've never done it before, and to be honest, I'm kind of intimidated. I've had trouble being a dedicated blogger in the past, and this campaign thing requires consistent blogging for TWO MONTHS!!! Suffice it to say, I'm challenging myself with this one.

Anyway, this is just a quick post to introduce myself to my Campaign groups (and if you're not participating, you can at least get to know me a little better):

I love stories. Ever since I was a kid, I've been a slave to a well-told tale. So, it was only a matter of time before my over-active imagination got tired of reading other peoples' stories and started spitting out its own. This is not to say, of course, that I don't read anymore. Actually, I read more than ever!

I completed my first novel a year or two ago and recently started working on my second. I'm still working out my methodology, but it's slow-going (a lot of trial-and-error). My work hovers somewhere between YA and adult, but always either sci-fi or fantasy—my first book was sci-fi, my current WIP is fantasy (I have seven or eight other ideas rolling around my head: 2 fantasy, 1.5 urban fantasy, and 3.5 sci-fi).

Anyway, I'm going to follow Cheryl's example (she's in one of my campaign groups) and try to sum up my WIP in a single sentence. I'll do the same for one of my Sc-Fi stories as well

Dathan the Sorcerer:
When a sudden resurgence of Arcane magic threatens to raze the kingdom of Amerin to the ground, Dathan Bahaar, recovering from a centuries-long enthrallment to the terrible powers of the Arcanum, discovers that his knowledge of the dark magic to be a deadly threat, as well as a potent weapon in the struggle to save his people from slavery and death.


Rask, Inc.:
After narrowly escaping the IED that killed her husband, young Vivian Rask finds herself in the cross-hairs of both the military and a vicious crime syndicate, her only allies a  ragtag crew of mercenaries, her only weapon a secret handed down by her family from generations untold.


That was a lot harder than it sounded! Kudos to Cheryl for doing a cleaner job than I did. Anyway, I hope they sound intriguing. Can't wait to start the Campaign.

Thoughts on why certain books are my favorites

Hi everyone! I've been thinking a lot about why I like certain books and not others. My favorite book, currently, is Sabriel, by Garth Nix. It's the first of three novels and a short story (there's another book slated to come out in 2013, and I CAN'T WAIT!!!) I love those books so much that I read them over and over (I first read Sabriel a little over 3 years ago, and I've probably read it at least 4 times since), but I never stopped to think about why until a few days ago. I'll have to go back and read it again before I can come up with a detailed analysis of why I like it so much, but for now, here's my first impression:

Sabriel is the first fantasy book I've read since Lord of the Rings that I felt was written by an intelligent, well-educated person for intelligent, well-educated people. Most fantasy books I've read fall into one of two categories: those that feel like they were written by an emotionally stunted adolescent, and those that feel like the author is talking down to me, mocking my intelligence. By far, the most fall in to the first category; most science fiction and fantasy books I read strike me as too cliche, too fanciful, or both.

Sabriel, however, is written in a way that feels both intelligent and believable. Nix's diction and syntax are more sophisticated than a lot of authors'. For the first time since middle school, I came across words I didn't know (outside of a text book, that is); but at the same time, I didn't feel stupid for not knowing them. Furthermore, Nix writes clearly and accurately, whether writing description, explanation, action, or dialogue. In my opinion, the language of a book should be transparent, a vehicle for the story, and not an obstacle.

Now, apart from Nix's technical ability, his world-building and plot-development skills are masterful. Nix somehow manages to present his ideas in a way that makes them easy to believe, even when discussing magic and fantastic creatures. This is a secret I must discover! The hardest thing for me, when writing sci-fi or fantasy, is writing so that the unrealistic elements feel plausible or even real.

Anyway, like I said, I'll have to go back and read it again before I can give you a more credible analysis. So, what is it about your favorite book that makes you love it so much?

How to Develop Your Characters

Hi everyone! As you recall, a couple of weeks ago I shared my dazzling new idea for becoming a more consistent blogger (writing down my ideas at work so I can blog when I get home). Unfortunately, ever since than I've been so swamped that I literally haven't come up with a single idea while at work. So, no success on that front yet.

However, I have some exciting news concerning my other idea (make each chapter a complete mini-story)! As I expected, it's been quite a challenge. But my efforts have produced an interesting side effect. I've noticed that, in an effort to complete my mini story arcs, I've forced myself to put in more character development. I'm really excited about this because characterization, in my opinion, is not my strongest area. (Incidentally, Tanya, I hope to have a revised chapter to you soon.) So, despite the difficulty of my undertaking, I'm having a lot of fun and making some good progress!

So, how's your writing and/or reading going?

How to make every chapter interesting

So, I had another not-so-original epiphany today. I've only completed one novel to date and it was hard going. I think it was so hard because I had no clear division in the story, other than scene-to-scene. Today the thought occurred to me that it might be easier to get through that first draft if I wrote by chapter, instead of by scene.

I know this is nothing new to the writing community in general, but I've never tried it before. Not only did I not write by chapter in my first book, but I didn't write chronologically either; I literally wrote scenes in random order as they developed in my imagination. This is NOT a good writing strategy: you have to figure out where each scene fits best, reconcile slight differences in plot or detail, and then go back and figure out where chapter breaks should go. It's a nightmare! So, I'm going to take a leaf out of the books of several writers and create a new Word doc for each chapter (incidentally, it was my good friend Shallee that got me thinking about this suggestion again, if in a round-about way; she mentioned doing more intensive outlining in her post the other day).

Now, here's the (hopefully) brilliant part of my epiphany: the way to make each chapter more fun to read (and write) is to structure each one as a complete mini-story as much as possible. What I mean is try to make every chapter have a clear conflict and plot structure of its own. That way, in addition to supporting or advancing the overarching plot, each chapter helps keep the readers attention/interest and gives the reader mini-doses of the reaction he/she gets from an entire book. If I can make this work, it will make my writing infinitely more interesting.

Now, I'm sure it's going to be about 8 billion times harder than it sounds, and will require a heck of a lot of outlining (again, thank you, Shallee), so I hope you all will be sending good vibes my way.

What do you like to do to make each chapter interesting and engaging?

Logistical Solutions and Old Problems

Hi everyone! I'm sure you've noticed my posts over the last few months have been a bit sporadic. The problem is that most of my ideas come during the day, while I'm at work. At my old job this wasn't a problem because I literally had no work to do (one of the reasons I quit); unfortunately, now that I've actually got work to do, it would look really bad if I were blogging in the middle of the day. Thankfully, today I cam up with a (not so) novel solution: I have a notepad on my desk, and whenever I come up with an idea I jot it down really quick so I can post it really quick when I get home. I know that's not exactly a new idea, but what can I say...

Now, on to something actually related to novel writing! I've been pulling my hair out over the last couple of weeks; I found I've fallen into the same old trap I always end up in. A few weeks ago, I decided I was going to buckle down and knock out a first draft of Dathan the Sorcerer. I managed to make a little headway, but as always, I was derailed by two things: 1) I reached a certain point and can't figure out what comes next (a HUGE apology to Tanya, my CP, but it might be a while before I send her any more), and 2) I've been distracted by a veritable deluge of ideas for one of my other stories (none of which I can afford to ignore because I intend to write that story later). GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Anyway, I've (hopefully) solved one writing problem and will be posting more regularly. As for my other problem, I'd welcome any advice you guys might have. I'm at my wits' end.

Speaking of which, what's the biggest obstacle in your writing process? Maybe we can give you some ideas!

Choosing a POV character

Yesterday I realized something about my writing style: I don't like to write from the hero's perspective, at least not much. I much prefer to write from the point of view of another character observing the hero. The funny thing is I'm not entirely sure why.

The problem is that it's a lot harder to characterize a person and show his/her thoughts and emotions when you can't get inside his/her head. You have to rely on other characters noticing certain things (e.g. facial expressions, nervous ticks, tone of voice, etc.). And there's also the problem of those times when the hero does something courageous, virtuous, selfless, or ... well, heroic, but there's no one around to see it or report on it. Those are about the only times I can bring myself to write from the hero's POV.

What do you all think? What are the advantages and disadvantages of my little quirk? Do you have any particular preferences (rational or otherwise) in POVs?