Ask the Author: Ryan Southwick
Answered Questions (6)
Ryan Southwick
Except for the protagonist, the characters were inspired from games my friends and I played in high school. While my high school days are far behind me, the characters stayed. I played with ideas over the years about what day-to-day life would be like for them, until one day I decided to write it down. I needed a vehicle to introduce the reader to these heroic characters, someone as ordinary as they they were extraordinary, and that's where Anne came from. The vampire story line was my vision of a technological twist on a classic tale.
Ryan Southwick
Creating characters who feel as alive as anyone who actually existed. When a reader finishes my book, if they feel like they've left friends behind, I know I've created something special.
Ryan Southwick
For me, it's all about the characters. Like many authors, I love my characters like real people. That doesn't mean I won't put them through hell, but every time I sit down to write, it's like I'm visiting my close friends. I'm as anxious to find out what's going to happen to them as they are.
Ryan Southwick
Just write. Make time for yourself and just do it. Write about what interests you, whatever that is. Jump into the middle of the book and write that scene that calls to you. It doesn't have to be pretty, it doesn't have to be a masterpiece, but if you don't write, write, and re-write, it never will be.
Ryan Southwick
First, I refer back to my plot outline. If the part I'm stuck on doesn't directly apply, I'll delete it and start over (I'm on my 3rd book now and have become much less afraid to delete paragraphs or entire chapters if they don't keep things moving).
Second, if I'm stuck, it usually means things are dragging, and my reader will probably feel it, too. That's when it's time to abbreviate what I'm trying to say or "throw in another dead body", as they say. I'll add an unexpected event or phrase and play it out with the characters. Most times it turns into something positive that easily ties back into the plot.
Second, if I'm stuck, it usually means things are dragging, and my reader will probably feel it, too. That's when it's time to abbreviate what I'm trying to say or "throw in another dead body", as they say. I'll add an unexpected event or phrase and play it out with the characters. Most times it turns into something positive that easily ties back into the plot.
Ryan Southwick
I'm working on the last few chapters of the 3rd and final book in the series. Exciting!
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