Ask the Author: John Collings
Answered Questions (11)
John Collings
He stood at the edge of the spotlight with sweat dribbling down his brow. All the eyes looked towards his silhouette eagerly waiting for the important information he did not know how to deliver.
John Collings
Ever since I was a young kid, Middle Earth has held a special place in my heart. I love the place so much that I have visited New Zealand to make believe that I had voyaged there. The natural beauty that Tolkien described in his story has always been one of the places I have always wanted to visit and there are so many location that I would love to explore that I feel like there would never be enough time to visit them all.
John Collings
The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore
Oryx and Crake By Margret Atwood
True Grit: The Unauthorized History of Australia by David Hunt
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Perfect Spy by Larry Berman
Bali: Heaven and Hell by Phil Jarratt
Crossroads: A Popular History of Malaysia and Singapore by Jim Baker
Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett
Oryx and Crake By Margret Atwood
True Grit: The Unauthorized History of Australia by David Hunt
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Perfect Spy by Larry Berman
Bali: Heaven and Hell by Phil Jarratt
Crossroads: A Popular History of Malaysia and Singapore by Jim Baker
Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett
John Collings
What happened during those lost years, 21 - 31?
John Collings
Celia Bowen and Marco Alistair from Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus. Here is a couple of potential lovers that are thrown into a battle for control over the Night Circus by the mentors but soon come to the realization that their feelings for each other are more important than the wishes of the ones who threw them into this contest in the first place. Their philosophies on life are so dramatically different, but it is this difference that I believe brings them closer together. It is a truly magical tale about love and rivalry and I instantly fell in love with this couple as soon as I start to read about their journey.
John Collings
If you look at all of the great writers through history, you will see that they all have something in common; they are all interesting people despite the fact that they were also writers. They all had a passion for life and went out and lived it. By doing so they never had a problem being inspired. Writing in its self is fun, but so is life. Every time I walk out my door, I am presented with a thousand stories. I just don't have time to write them all down. This means that there are still 999 stories out there for somebody to write. So get out of your house every once in awhile and enjoy life. The funny thing is the further you get away from home, the better the stories get.
John Collings
I've never really struggled with this problem. Part of this might be because I have taught an improvisation class for eight years to high school students. In order to do this, I needed to train my brain how to do improvisational theater. One of the keys to this is to make sure the story continues. It is just a matter of creating a new routine and then breaking it. When you break it, all you do is create a new routine. This keeps the story going at all times. I take this principle to my writing, and even though I kind of know where I am going with the story, I don't always know how I am going to get there, I love where the voyage takes me. It just comes back to taking the experiences of your life and applying them to other things that you do.
John Collings
The best advice I can give is the same advice you would hear from a creative writing instructor, and that is to write. Develop a routine and stick to that routine no matter how much you do not want to. I write for an hour a day which does not seem like a lot, but I have found that if I do that I end up finishing a novel about once a year. In order to do that, I must stick to my routine whether I am inspired or not. I have found that some of the best stuff I have written have been on days where I am not inspired, and some of the worst stuff I have written have been on days where I felt inspired. It is just knowing that I am continually working on something that makes me know that I will eventually create something great.
John Collings
Writing. When you get into what I call the groove, where you stop thinking about the story that you are writing and it just flows out of you, is the best feeling in the world. This is where the real writing takes place because it is honest and true connection with your self. It is the moment that I always look for every time I sit down to write. I don't always find that moment but when I do I leave my computer feeling satisfied.
John Collings
I have been toying with a fantasy idea for the last couple of months. I haven't really started writing it yet because I have been laying the ground work for it first. I should have a great outline in place by the end of July and should start writing it then. I am also going through my final edits of a shorter work called Tag. I will be sending that out to publishers in the next couple of weeks, and hopefully I can have it available by next summer. Of course, I first need to have a publisher accept it.
John Collings
The idea came ot me while out on one omy daily runs. Some of my students at the alternative high school where I teach struggle with their identity. I was wondering how I could help them and thought about the things that caused me to struggle with my identity at their age. That was when I was reminded of my Confirmation classes I took while attending Catholic high school. It made me wonder if being forced into an identity by my parents was the right way for me to find my identity.
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