Ask the Author: Stephen Burckhardt
Answered Questions (6)
Stephen Burckhardt
A lot of this serial comes from stories I have heard. An ex of mine used to tell me stories about their grandma who came to Kansas on the orphan train. She was not treated as family by the people who took her in. She was more of an indentured servant. That gave me the initial idea then my Mom and I visited the orphan train museum in Kansas and learned more of the facts behind the orphan train. I also used stories from my own family for the first book for when the children are in a foundling home. My father and his sisters spent a few years in a children's home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The way my characters are treated in the foundling's home comes straight from stories I heard from my family. Even the prayer I have Lizzy say before eating is the one my Dad was taught in the children's home. Most of my writing, even the horror stories I write, will have shreds of truth in them from my life.
Stephen Burckhardt
Just living. Personal experiences, TV, Movies, music, conversations, everything I experience can be an inspiration. Just look at the state the world is in right now. So much blind intolerance of each other, that is a great topic to explore.
Stephen Burckhardt
Currently I am working on part two of book one in my Territories Sagas. The books I'm working on now are serials. Instead of writing one full novel and releasing it all at once I break it into parts and release it in sections a few chapters at a time. Book one is Into the West. Part one of book one is Into the West: The Orphan Train. Right now I'm writing part two of book one, Into the West: A New Home. I need to get it finished quick because I already have part three running around in my head, Into the West: Sharon Springs.
Stephen Burckhardt
Just start writing. Even if for right now it's just for yourself. Get a blog site and just start writing about something, anything. I work as a journalist for a while and that really helps you to focus on facts. You learn how to give a lot of information in a short space. I think my journalism writing classes were much more beneficial to me as a creative writer than any of the creative writing classes I ever took in college. To be honest, I thought my creative writing teacher was kind of an ass. He told me to never write surprise endings because the audience hates them. I asked him if he had ever seen Psycho or The Sixth Sense. There was one assignment he gave where you had to pick an author and write about them. I choose Madeline L'Engle. He told me I couldn't write about her because she was a children's author. I told him she is mostly famous for being the author of children's books but she had written mostly adult books in her career. He still told me no. I wrote about her anyway and he ended up giving me an A and had to admit that she was much more than just a children's author. (check out her books on here Goodreads and Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Madeleine-LEngl...). My point for telling that story is to say don't take no for an answer. If you know you are right, prove it. If someone rejects you, go to someone else. If you know your work deserves to be read, do what you have to to get it in the hands of readers.
Stephen Burckhardt
All of the people in my head get talk to someone besides me.
Stephen Burckhardt
I just step away from the project for a while. I find the harder I try to work past it, the worse it seems to get. However, if I just go to a movie or out with the family, the distraction usually makes block resolve itself. I'll see something or hear something and things will just click and I think, "oh, that's what should happen next." Honestly, I think the key is just finding a way to relax.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more