Ask the Author: Shawn Patrick Cooke
Answered Questions (6)
Shawn Patrick Cooke
I do something else. It sounds like a trite answer, and maybe not all that helpful, but if I'm sitting at the computer staring at a blank screen, and nothing's coming, I get up, I mix up a Rubik's cube or read a book or do something that engages my mind. I have no obligation to bang my head against the keyboard until something comes out.
Of course, that's fine if it happens once. What happens if you get into that rut where you're just not writing at all? That's when I try to find something else to write, not a story, but just a journal or a blog post or a book review, or even an email to someone. These things remind me that I can write, that all it takes is doing it, and that can help me over the hump.
Of course, that's fine if it happens once. What happens if you get into that rut where you're just not writing at all? That's when I try to find something else to write, not a story, but just a journal or a blog post or a book review, or even an email to someone. These things remind me that I can write, that all it takes is doing it, and that can help me over the hump.
Shawn Patrick Cooke
I love language -- it's what I studied in school, and a topic I continue to enjoy learning about. Language is one of the core elements to what makes us human, and to be a writer is to share your own tiny scrap of humanity with others.
Shawn Patrick Cooke
Don't focus on one project to the exclusion of all else. I think most authors have one big story that sort of got them into writing, and the temptation is to write and rewrite and revise and re-revise, trying to make it perfect.
Instead, try branching out! Write other books or short stories or poems or whatever motivates you. After a time, come back to the story you started with, and you'll bring all of that experience and knowledge with you.
Instead, try branching out! Write other books or short stories or poems or whatever motivates you. After a time, come back to the story you started with, and you'll bring all of that experience and knowledge with you.
Shawn Patrick Cooke
So many things! Too many to work on all at once, but here are a few. I'm pretty deep into a YA fantasy series. I've done several drafts now, and each time I get to a certain point and realize that I need to go back to the beginning and start over. Each draft is stronger than the one before, though, so I'm heading in the right direction.
I have a couple of other novel ideas bouncing around, also in the fantasy genre. These are not epic fantasy, but smaller and more personal stories.
Finally, I have a bevy of unfinished short stories primed and ready to complete. Chances are, these will appear in the next collection!
I have a couple of other novel ideas bouncing around, also in the fantasy genre. These are not epic fantasy, but smaller and more personal stories.
Finally, I have a bevy of unfinished short stories primed and ready to complete. Chances are, these will appear in the next collection!
Shawn Patrick Cooke
Inspiration for me is often an exercise in "what if". I'll get an idea for a concept or world, and I'll extrapolate from there to decide what the consequences of it would be. From there, it's a matter of finding a character who can illustrate both the concept and the consequences to the reader, while undergoing some sort of development of their own.
Shawn Patrick Cooke
My most recent book is a collection of short stories, so technically speaking there are as many answers as there are stories! But I did pick and choose which stories went into the collection according to a guiding principle.
In short, I wanted to assemble stories that focused on character through the lens of speculative fiction. I love to read stories where human nature shines through unusual circumstances, so that was the type of story I assembled for this collection.
The title, A Magnet to a Flame, is a line from a song by They Might Be Giants, called "Fun Assassin." I liked the image of two powerful forces which fail to interact on each other.
In short, I wanted to assemble stories that focused on character through the lens of speculative fiction. I love to read stories where human nature shines through unusual circumstances, so that was the type of story I assembled for this collection.
The title, A Magnet to a Flame, is a line from a song by They Might Be Giants, called "Fun Assassin." I liked the image of two powerful forces which fail to interact on each other.
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