Ask the Author: J.C. Steel
Answered Questions (8)
J.C. Steel
I definitely fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to writing. I start a book when the voices in my head get too obtrusive, and my first draft really consists of dropping my characters into a situation and writing down what they do.
I deeply respect anyone who can figure out exactly how their story will end and still write 75 - 100K words about it, but if I knew from the start what would happen in my books, it's very improbable I'd ever finish writing one.
I deeply respect anyone who can figure out exactly how their story will end and still write 75 - 100K words about it, but if I knew from the start what would happen in my books, it's very improbable I'd ever finish writing one.
J.C. Steel
Hi James! Sorry, the past few weeks have been a little crazy :) As far as publishing goes - I did almost get picked up by Transworld back in my teens, but exams and life got in the way of following up on it. By the time I started seriously writing again, the idea of going hat in hand to someone else to publish my books didn't really appeal; I wanted to be in charge. I went indie. I can't say I regret it. How about you?
J.C. Steel
Hello Ian, I'm absolutely with you in that I far prefer writing the next book to editing the current one (having that problem at the moment).
I do periodically freelance as an editor, and I've worked on educational, technical, and fiction projects, in all the major dialects of English. It definitely is harder to edit something you've written yourself, and consequently already stared at for months on end.
I was lucky in that my family missed a generation, and I was homeschooled to my teens by a pair of the irascible WWII generation :) they ensured I learnt to read by age two and write by age five, which may have given me a headstart.
I don't claim I'm 100% perfect - I'm all too aware of the reputation indie prints have for editing - but if you take a quick look in my chapter samples here on Goodreads, you'll be able to form your own opinion of my error rate. Self-editing is not a route I'd recommend to everyone, but often a good set of beta readers will be honest enough to tell you very quickly if you need to involve a professional editor. (Getting a good set of beta readers really is something I'd recommend to everyone.)
I do periodically freelance as an editor, and I've worked on educational, technical, and fiction projects, in all the major dialects of English. It definitely is harder to edit something you've written yourself, and consequently already stared at for months on end.
I was lucky in that my family missed a generation, and I was homeschooled to my teens by a pair of the irascible WWII generation :) they ensured I learnt to read by age two and write by age five, which may have given me a headstart.
I don't claim I'm 100% perfect - I'm all too aware of the reputation indie prints have for editing - but if you take a quick look in my chapter samples here on Goodreads, you'll be able to form your own opinion of my error rate. Self-editing is not a route I'd recommend to everyone, but often a good set of beta readers will be honest enough to tell you very quickly if you need to involve a professional editor. (Getting a good set of beta readers really is something I'd recommend to everyone.)
J.C. Steel
Right now I'm working on an urban fantasy story. Meet Katrin Summers, Canadian, outdoors enthusiast, introvert (sounds better than anti-social), native of Vancouver's North Shore, and a were cat. Don't make the "Cat? Where?" joke. It's been done. To death, in some cases.
Katrin is a peacekeeper for the were cats of the Northwest. In her own words, she goes out looking for trouble to put down. The elders, bastions of clan tradition, aren't particularly thrilled that Katrin will work with wolves, witches and even living legends to solve a case ...
Katrin is a peacekeeper for the were cats of the Northwest. In her own words, she goes out looking for trouble to put down. The elders, bastions of clan tradition, aren't particularly thrilled that Katrin will work with wolves, witches and even living legends to solve a case ...
J.C. Steel
The only aspiring writer is one who hasn't written anything yet. Therefore, my advice to aspiring writers is: start writing. That story isn't doing any good lurking in your brain like a toad on a hot rock.
J.C. Steel
Inspiration isn't usually a problem. Generally sitting and trying to focus on my work computer for about thirty seconds gets my brain heading off every which way to Christmas. Trying to get to sleep works even better. Trying to organise it all into a plot that holds water and won't bore a reader to sleep is sometimes a bit more problematic.
J.C. Steel
Are you kidding me? :) Creating an entire universe of your own has to rate way up there on the list of fun things to do. Getting to sit on a character's shoulder through crazy stunts and space battles is a nice change of pace from the day job, too. *ahem* OK, got off-track. Summary: writing is the best part about being a writer.
J.C. Steel
I have a low boredom threshold, and I'm a purely indie pub, so my approach is probably a bit unique on this one. If I truly hit a road bump in the book I'm trying to write, and all the usual tricks, like changing playlist, taking a walk, taking a workout, writing sprints, etc., don't work ... I start something completely new and different (to steal a Monty Python quote). By the time I've written 75k or so about totally new characters and a totally new environment, my brain is raring to get back to the book I abandoned.
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