An Interview with Myself - Part 3
Wrapping up a series of questions to get to know me as an author.
Here we are, the final part of an interview with myself. This little experiment has been kind of interesting, and I do enjoy sharing some of the things that make me tick. I suppose I’ll have to find some more questions throughout 2024, or perhaps I can just dive deeper into any one of these. I suppose it really depends on whether people read them or not.
Still, it’s been a lot of fun. let’s wrap up the last six questions from TeacherVision.
Do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?
As I am relatively new to being an author myself, I’m not entirely sure I am qualified to provide advice. However, a lot of the things that made me a successful freelance writer are spearheading my goals to become a successful author. So, I’ll do my best.
Learn All You Can
First of all, continue to develop your skills and style. Learn from every expert you come across and integrate their teachings into your own workflow. And never assume you know everything. From online courses like the Reedsy Master Class to the blog of a successful author, there is always more you can learn. Continue to become the best version of yourself through knowledge.
Practice Makes Perfect
Next, put that knowledge into practice. You don’t need an agent or publishing house to start getting your work out there for others to read. Platforms like Wattpad and Inkitt can put your stories in front of readers allowing you to gain some insights into whether people will like your style of writing. Continue to practice as it will help you hone your skills further while contributing to becoming the best author you can be.
Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
Stepping out of your comfort zone can expose you to a whole new world of opportunities. Not to mention helping you come across things that wind up becoming your new favorites. This could include anything from getting out of the house and attending group meetups in person to simply writing in a genre you’ve never tried. Expose yourself to new ideas and experiences.
Don’t Dwell on the Trolls
One of my favorite sayings is that you can’t please 100% of the people 100% of the time. Some are going to hate for the sheer sake of hating. They are not the ones with whom you should concern yourself. Don’t let the trolls detract from what may ultimately be the best experiences of your life. There is a massive difference between a proper critique of your writing and the trolling of some sad, pathetic, little worm.
Don’t Assume You Know What Others Will Like
Perhaps one of the most important suggestions is to never assume you know what others will like to read. Sure, you’ll work to please your target audience. But don’t just throw away a manuscript because you think no one will like it. I’ve written some articles and stories that I thought were complete garbage only for clients and readers to love them. If you think about it, it’s awfully arrogant of you to “know” what other people will love to read.
Do you like to create books for adults?
I don’t think I have much of a choice when it comes to my target audience. Nearly everything I write winds up having a dark turn in it somewhere. Plus, I have been known to include a few…suggestive….elements here and there.
So, I wouldn’t go so far as to hope my books wind up in a high school library or anything of the sort. I guess that also depends on the maturity of the reader. Some teens are capable of handling a bit more than what’s allowed, I suppose. Hell, I personally read Jaws and nine and started Stephen King books at 11 or 12. So, what do I know?
The bottom line is that I prefer having the openness to write the story in my head without worrying whether it’s appropriate for kids. Sometimes my stories take an extremely dark and graphic turn, and other times, it’s a bit lighter, allowing the imagination to fill in the blanks.
At the end of the day, I wouldn’t say my books are geared toward children.
What do you think makes a good story?
Character and plot development. When I say that, I mean having a good arc and showing how both change throughout the story. By the end, the main character should be different than when he or she started the journey. Not like shape-changed into something else, mind you. Personal growth can deliver a great arc depending on what’s going on and the challenges the characters face.
For example, let’s take Aliens from 1986. At the beginning, Ripley was essentially forced to go with the Space Marines as an expert. She was scared and wanted nothing to do with the Xenomorphs. By the end, she quelled that fear, jumped in a loader, and threw down with the queen, herself. The midpoint of the story shaped who she was as her maternal instincts kicked in to save Newt. She went from having nightmares of the experiences from the first movie to absolutely kicking the queen’s ass.
The point is that change is part of good storytelling. Changing behaviors, mannerisms, beliefs…it’s more than just changing locations.
What is your favorite part of being a writer?
I suppose it’s the idea that I am either helping or entertaining someone. I love to write, whether it’s a blog post about my experiences using a new writing app or hammering out a story based in Atlantic City in 1874. Lately, I’ve been siding more with the latter as it lets me really explore the depths of my imagination.
Don’t get me wrong, I love working with my clients and writing content that helps their audiences. I’ve written a lot of tutorials centering on how to use WordPress or the OBS Studio video platform. But I’ve always wanted to be a storyteller, and working on the creative aspects of writing has been long overdue.
I love the moments when I hear someone say, “Holy shit, I didn’t see that coming.” I got a bit of that when I wrote Kingmaker. I’m a big fan of misdirection, and nearly everything I write has that aspect to some degree. It’s those kinds of moments when I can essentially manipulate the imagination of someone else to see a world that I have created for them to enjoy that really floats my boat, so to speak.
That’s one of the beautiful parts of creative writing. There are no limits, as long as your reader can “believe” those things can happen. Sure, some stories will have common tropes or have some similarities to others that are out there. It’s virtually impossible to come up with a completely original idea simply because of the sheer volume of work that is in the world. But you can also twist some of those tropes and ideas to create something that is rare. And depending on how you set up those characters and plots, even the most common trope can feel unique.
As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I’ve always had a penchant for writing. I started at a very young age with outlandish tales of whatever came to mind. But back then, no one really pushed me to write or to explore that aspect of my imagination. In reality, my imagination wound up getting me into quite a bit of trouble in elementary school.
When I was in my early teens, I was inspired by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In fact, for the longest time, I had a fedora, leather whip, brown pants, and a leather jacket. I dove deep into ancient history and explored many of the mysteries surrounding ancient cultures and such. In college, my favorite course was Art History and I love reading about how cultures throughout the centuries developed their artistic styles.
However, one of my passions has always centered around writing in one form or another. Even my Art History professor asked me to keep my essay on the Amarna Period of Ancient Egypt because of how I structured it. Toward the end, I wrote about an alien conspiracy theory based on the evidence we had at the time. It’s a very long story, but it was quite fun to write.
Throughout my life, I’ve had many jobs and career paths. Most centered around sitting at a keyboard and typing. And although a lot of those careers differed greatly from what I do today, writing always found a way to re-introduce itself into my lifestyle.
I wrote my first story when I was about nine, and it took me 28 years before I decided to put in the effort to see where it would go. Although I started with writing for clients on Textbroker, which didn’t require a lot of creativity at the time, I still wound up where I wanted to be in the first place.
Feel Free to Ask Your Own Questions
There we have it. This was quite fun and perhaps we’ll have to do it again someday. But if there is anything you’d like to know about me, feel free to ask. Perhaps I’ll assemble another list of questions for a future post.
In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading this three-part series as much as I enjoyed writing it. Have a Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate if there is one.