Ask the Author: Michael Winston
Answered Questions (6)
Michael Winston
If I want to keep writing Kinkaid books about the American Revolution I have to constantly be searching for likely events to put my hero into. So my ideas come from history.
Michael Winston
I was the best reader in first grade and the teacher made me a reading helper for other students, so I've always loved books and reading and always had a dream to write books. Did you ever notice that whatever you dream about tends to come true?
Michael Winston
Another book in the Jonathan Kinkaid Series...because they are my most popular books and people ask me to write more of them. This one is about the Battle of Rhode Island where Kinkaid is sent down to help General Sullivan and the French fleet retake Newport from the British. This book is a little different in that Kinkaid does not have a ship to command and so I feel a little uncomfortable not having shipboard life be the main structure. It is also different in that the story is being told from both sides, with some chapters describing the decision-making of the British commander defending Newport against a combined French and Rebel force.
Michael Winston
Just start writing. Since I write historical fiction I at least have an outline already prepared from my research that I more or less have to follow. Other than that I try not to plan too far ahead and let the story write itself. Sometimes characters and interesting conversations and events and action come out of nowhere and add to the story. I know that sounds esoteric, but I rely a great deal on faith that the story will unfold somehow and that it will be a good and interesting material. It is almost as if the story is being passed to me from some other mysterious source. That faith never lets me down.
Michael Winston
Seeing what comes out of that mystical creative source we all have access to and feeling the sense of accomplishment when it surprises us, as it often does..
Michael Winston
I never had writers block until I got cancer and went through chemo and I think that distracted me for a year or so. Now I'm cured, tho. But I generally avoid writers block by not thinking about it. It is sometimes hard to get going, but you can't let that stop you. My advice is to stop thinking about it and simply sit down and go over what you've already written. You'll start making little corrections here and there and the next thing you know you'll be off and running again, letting that un-explainable creative source loose.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more