Ask the Author: Carl D. Jenkins
Answered Questions (7)
Carl D. Jenkins
A question does not have to be very big to become the impetus for a novel. The naturally big ones already come with a lot of implied questions and could be easier: for instance, my father died in a house fire with no one else at home.
However, every step of life is really a collection of unknowns. What if I'd gone somewhere else for lunch? What if I had been present when the accident I saw being cleaned up on the side of the road? What was the full story surrounding the snippet of conversation I just overheard passing in the hall?
Open yourself to not only experience your own life, but to think about the fact that every brief episode you witness is already a part of a bigger story. Use what you see in a story you want to read and the possibilities are endless for you as a writer.
However, every step of life is really a collection of unknowns. What if I'd gone somewhere else for lunch? What if I had been present when the accident I saw being cleaned up on the side of the road? What was the full story surrounding the snippet of conversation I just overheard passing in the hall?
Open yourself to not only experience your own life, but to think about the fact that every brief episode you witness is already a part of a bigger story. Use what you see in a story you want to read and the possibilities are endless for you as a writer.
Carl D. Jenkins
My most recent book is my least polished, and probably most personal. The Unemployment Rollercoaster deals with keeping your head in the game when facing unemployment, and I think it offers value to both the person who has become unemployed, and the person who has to make the hard decisions. Only you can navigate your way back into security when the axe falls, but this book can help you take a step back and see your situation more objectively. I wrote it while unemployed, but with hundreds of conversations with former clients in mind. The variety of ways they arrived at my desk, and the variety of ways they lifted themselves back up off it allowed me to present a different perspective that everyone needs to see.
My most recent piece is a short story involving time travel and the notion of what killed the dinosaurs. I wanted to try new things with my writing, and felt like it would be horrid. I almost fired my first beta readers because no one would find significant flaws in even the first edited draft. My editor helped me do some polishing, of course, but Jurassic Station was accepted by the first Anthology I pitched it to. I honestly cannot say where the idea itself came from, but all of the key elements were among those I have contemplated since I was much shorter than I am now.
My most recent piece is a short story involving time travel and the notion of what killed the dinosaurs. I wanted to try new things with my writing, and felt like it would be horrid. I almost fired my first beta readers because no one would find significant flaws in even the first edited draft. My editor helped me do some polishing, of course, but Jurassic Station was accepted by the first Anthology I pitched it to. I honestly cannot say where the idea itself came from, but all of the key elements were among those I have contemplated since I was much shorter than I am now.
Carl D. Jenkins
Open your eyes and see the people around you, not as competition, but as individuals on their own paths. There is a reason for every action we take, usually several, and that fraction of a second we have to make each decision is ever in flux. Ask yourself three things for a curious event. Where is that person coming from? Where is that person going? What would happen if the balance of influences was just slightly different at that moment? Toss in the elements of your preferred genre and you have a story to write.
Carl D. Jenkins
Hmmm, I have three novels and a short story on my digital desktop. Assorted other pieces surface now and then when I'm not up for making progress, and I pause when the opportunity to write something short and quick in a hurry comes up, but those four pieces are the babies I keep in mind and moving forward.
The primary work in progress (WIP) follows assorted individuals as they fall into and learn to navigate out of homelessness. It has heart-warming moments, but it also has moments that are not for the faint of heart. The structure of our society depends upon a rather thin veneer that allows many to fall through at sudden and unexpected moments. That same veneer also makes it easier for those above it to look the other way, including those slipping deeper into their own pits.
The secondary WIP explores the subconscious, repressed memories, secondary personalities, assorted phobias, and I cannot say much more because it may soon be submitted for publication and I don't want spoilers out there for my beta-readers.
There's almost always a twist in my fiction, and I prefer to leave the potential for surprise for the majority of readers to savor.
The primary work in progress (WIP) follows assorted individuals as they fall into and learn to navigate out of homelessness. It has heart-warming moments, but it also has moments that are not for the faint of heart. The structure of our society depends upon a rather thin veneer that allows many to fall through at sudden and unexpected moments. That same veneer also makes it easier for those above it to look the other way, including those slipping deeper into their own pits.
The secondary WIP explores the subconscious, repressed memories, secondary personalities, assorted phobias, and I cannot say much more because it may soon be submitted for publication and I don't want spoilers out there for my beta-readers.
There's almost always a twist in my fiction, and I prefer to leave the potential for surprise for the majority of readers to savor.
Carl D. Jenkins
Write the whole story first, before you edit. Most likely, something you create later will warp the parts you created first, so anything more than fixing a word choice or meshing in new material is already going to be done more than once when you finish. Edit something else if you don't want to write.
"Write what you know" means you don't make up too many facts for how things work that many will already understand. Recognize your limitations and take the time to research what you are writing. You won't be an expert, and you may not even remember the intricacies next year, but your story will remain believable for the majority of your readers.
"Write what you know" means you don't make up too many facts for how things work that many will already understand. Recognize your limitations and take the time to research what you are writing. You won't be an expert, and you may not even remember the intricacies next year, but your story will remain believable for the majority of your readers.
Carl D. Jenkins
Getting to know the characters in your own head.
Carl D. Jenkins
I don't recognize writers block, really. Maybe I'm procrastinating or preoccupied and not feeling like writing, even though I want to.
If I really want to write and the words aren't flowing on the scene I was aiming for, I just start writing something, anything, to get my mind flowing. Usually its following a character through some boring routine until he is ready to come to work, then we both switch to the work at hand. It's okay to write something you know you will throw away, or that is completely unrelated.
When I know I will need to jump into continuing a piece quickly the next day, I stop writing mid-scene, even mid-sentence. Reading the last written paragraph or two drops me back where I was when I stopped the day before.
I don't let myself get caught up in editing until it's time to start filling in the blanks or the story is essentially told. Early editing is often really procrastination that can take you out of the writing mode by bringing you too close to the story. Stay on one side of the curtain.
If I really want to write and the words aren't flowing on the scene I was aiming for, I just start writing something, anything, to get my mind flowing. Usually its following a character through some boring routine until he is ready to come to work, then we both switch to the work at hand. It's okay to write something you know you will throw away, or that is completely unrelated.
When I know I will need to jump into continuing a piece quickly the next day, I stop writing mid-scene, even mid-sentence. Reading the last written paragraph or two drops me back where I was when I stopped the day before.
I don't let myself get caught up in editing until it's time to start filling in the blanks or the story is essentially told. Early editing is often really procrastination that can take you out of the writing mode by bringing you too close to the story. Stay on one side of the curtain.
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