Ask the Author: Timothy Nancarrow
Answered Questions (4)
Timothy Nancarrow
Don't wait for inspiration, actively seek and cultivate it. Propitiate and supplicate, meditate, explore and find avenues that stimulate the mind and senses. My creative inclinations, with reflection, are engendered or refined most prominently by immersion and introspection amidst the surrounds of nature, during peripatetic ruminations and pre-dawn perambulations, and quiet contemplation around the witching hour.
For any aspiring writer, I'm convinced one need only find the appropriate circumstance or context for inspiration to stoke the embers of imagination, from which the great conflagrations of the mind can emerge. Prometheus once gifted man the sacred, animate fire, and I would urge any aspiring writer to find their muse, so to speak, and explore different tools and strategies to identify the catalyst for the combustion of their creative inclinations.
Forming good writing habits is also essential; even a mere two-hundred words each day, incremental and cumulative, will yield results - one cannot be a writer simply by wishing it so, and in the act of writing, even the trying fiftieth proof-read, there is an immense joy buried beneath the tribulations of long nights, sore eyes, and so forth.
Finally, I'm also of the perspective one should write for themselves first and foremost. Even if the world condemns your work utterly, or it's rejected thirty times and considered too original, too verbose, commercially restrictive, whatever - if you will enjoy reading it, then commit to the act of creation. For there is a solemn, sincere pride that can only come from having undergone the effort and dedication to bring to life the pageantry, grandeur, and conviction of belief in one's own imagination.
For any aspiring writer, I'm convinced one need only find the appropriate circumstance or context for inspiration to stoke the embers of imagination, from which the great conflagrations of the mind can emerge. Prometheus once gifted man the sacred, animate fire, and I would urge any aspiring writer to find their muse, so to speak, and explore different tools and strategies to identify the catalyst for the combustion of their creative inclinations.
Forming good writing habits is also essential; even a mere two-hundred words each day, incremental and cumulative, will yield results - one cannot be a writer simply by wishing it so, and in the act of writing, even the trying fiftieth proof-read, there is an immense joy buried beneath the tribulations of long nights, sore eyes, and so forth.
Finally, I'm also of the perspective one should write for themselves first and foremost. Even if the world condemns your work utterly, or it's rejected thirty times and considered too original, too verbose, commercially restrictive, whatever - if you will enjoy reading it, then commit to the act of creation. For there is a solemn, sincere pride that can only come from having undergone the effort and dedication to bring to life the pageantry, grandeur, and conviction of belief in one's own imagination.
Timothy Nancarrow
For my part, being a writer is something of a compulsion; imagination and creativity bereft of direction or an appropriate medium tend to irritability and agitation, thus it's a necessity for me to indulge habitually, to the point of proclivity when writing beckons stronger than sleep. The best part is easily the wonder and thrill propagated by not only creating and cultivating a world and the myriad denizens and histories within it, but seeing how these developments, particularly the unplanned ones that surprise and excite, can take root and further influence and sculpt other areas of the narrative and perspectives of personalities within. Establishing an idea, watching it grow and develop beneath the fingertips, and then finally, the quiet sense of contentment and pride at having completed what once was begun.
Timothy Nancarrow
Currently I'm working on volumes II and III of the Anaimon saga; along with a handful of other standalone works that hopefully will see the light of day in another year or two. Other than that, I offer occasional fantasy, myth, or poetic reflections on my blog as well as penning long-overdue hand-written correspondence to some dear old friends who live abroad.
Timothy Nancarrow
With due honesty and sincerity, it's not a problem I've ever encountered. I am very fortunate that my stories seem self-perpetuating in a most organic idiom; that I need never fret or frustrate my efforts for lack of imagination or direction. That said, it's a double-edged sword, in that certain planned elements or preconceived scenes or developments within my work on occasion require pruning, re-shaping, or adjustment to accommodate bursts of sudden inspiration that occur from time to time.
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