Ask the Author: Mark Beyer
Answered Questions (6)
Mark Beyer
The ideas for Flip City started coming to me in the midst of writing Hired Man. I knew Pearce Butler was going to be a continuing character, and his story kept growing in my imagination long before the first book was completed.
Mark Beyer
I'm probably more driven to write than inspired to write. Writing is like breathing to me ... I have to do it. Pretty much every day. Many writers I know are the same way. Some call writing an addiction. As to what am I inspired to write about? -- I just want to write stories that will entertain and, hopefully, inspire readers to be better people in whatever sense "better" is as it applies to them. Smarter. More loving. Kinder. More thoughtful. Whatever they know will make them better people.
Mark Beyer
The follow-up to Hired Man called Flip City. Once again, daring and inventive hero Pearce Butler battles crime and evil on the meanest streets of Detroit, and applies his unique brand of justice to the lawless hinterlands of rural Ontario, Canada.
Mark Beyer
Easy. Determine the premise and the plot before your start writing. My first two novel attempts crashed and burned after two chapters (each) because the premise and plot were unformed before I started writing. Both were "style over substance" attempts without real stories to drive them forward. My third attempt (and first finished novel,) Hired Man, had a strong premise and plot before I wrote the first word. Premise and plot are the engine that drives the whole book. Without them your writing sputters and dies. You don't have to chart every little detail out, but you have to know generally where your story is going to go and why it's worth it for your readers to hop aboard for the ride.
Mark Beyer
There are so many "best things" I don't know where to start! The first thing that popped into my mind was being able to control a story to my liking. To write a book that I'd like to read. The second thing that writing offers is a matchless creative outlet. Its only equal, I'm guessing, is composing and creating original music, but I'm not musical at all, so that's a guess. Thirdly, writing creates an honest legacy; my books will survive me. Whether they get read or not, I don't know, but I do know that I'm leaving behind an authentic record of my thoughts, passions, and imagination. That checks a box in my soul.
Mark Beyer
So far, I have not experienced true writer's block in the sense where "no words come." However, when I get stuck and don't know what to write next, I usually back off the writing for a bit and do some open-ended research, often by physically driving around to potential story locations and "marinating" in actual environments (stores, restaurants, neighborhoods, etc.) where new sights, sounds, smells, textures and people sort of recharge my storytelling batteries. Sometimes a change of scenery, even for an hour or so, really helps me get the words flowing again.
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