Ask the Author: Matt Shuck
Answered Questions (7)
Matt Shuck
When I've received positive feedback that a story was genuinely enjoyed by someone, or that I was able to come up with a twist they never saw coming.
Matt Shuck
I don't wait for inspiration before writing. If it's not there, I start anyway and eventually, my muse sees how much fun I'm having and joins me. I write in genres that I enjoy and would want to read.
Matt Shuck
Read. It's the only thing that will give you the skills necessary to be a writer. Read good books and learn from them What made them work, what sets them apart from the others. Read bad books and learn from them. Where did they go wrong, how could the book have been improved? Then find time to write a little each day. It's like conditioning a muscle, repetition makes you stronger. Even if it's a few sentences, it's better than nothing.
Matt Shuck
The writer set his pen on the aged oak desk, satisfied that his masterpiece was complete. Many of his favorite characters had met a terrible end, but he comforted himself with the words, “honesty makes the best fiction.”
Matt Shuck
My wife asked me to write my own version of the dystopian fiction she reads and watches. Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Insurgent, The Smurfs. My main problem with all of those books and movies is that there is a very clear villain, but life doesn't work like that. Every evil mastermind thinks they're the hero of the story. It's the prejudices and fear that separates us and keeps us from the peace we want. Not some big bad.
Matt Shuck
In the future, fifty years after the aliens invaded and the humans lost the great war. A small resistance works to sabotage their alien overlords at every turn but when a force more powerful than either side threatens to destroy both sides they will have to find a way to come together as one to fight the real threat.
Matt Shuck
I have a list of questions that I ask myself about a scene and then integrate the answers into the story. I also like to tell myself a secret about one of the characters that I don't intend on telling the audience. This adds depth to the characters I'm writing about even if those parts aren't told to the reader. When all else fails I will skip ahead to a different section that seems more interesting and then double back later.
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