Ask the Author: J.W. Golan
Answered Questions (7)
J.W. Golan
Your computer just crashed, with all your data on it. That was right after your backup drive failed.
J.W. Golan
For me, writing has always been about releasing that inner story - that tale that’s yearning to be told. So in a very real sense, writing is it’s own reward.
Writing fantasy novels, however, has also allowed me to share this writing process with my daughters - who are, among other things, my beta-readers. Writing these novels has therefore become a bonding process: something I can share with my daughters and also leave behind.
Writing fantasy novels, however, has also allowed me to share this writing process with my daughters - who are, among other things, my beta-readers. Writing these novels has therefore become a bonding process: something I can share with my daughters and also leave behind.
J.W. Golan
I don't know that I've ever experienced "writer's block" in the traditional sense of "not knowing what to write next" or "being unable to write". There's always been something I knew which needed to added, developed, or redone.
What I have experienced, however, are times when I didn't like how a particular chapter or scene or plot element was evolving - and needed to make a change. Sometimes, there would be an initial hesitancy to discard what I had already written. It's always easier to evolve a scene than it is to discard and redo it. But sometimes that's what has to be done.
What I have experienced, however, are times when I didn't like how a particular chapter or scene or plot element was evolving - and needed to make a change. Sometimes, there would be an initial hesitancy to discard what I had already written. It's always easier to evolve a scene than it is to discard and redo it. But sometimes that's what has to be done.
J.W. Golan
I'm a little more than half-way through my first, very-rough draft for the second book in the Stormfall Chronicles series. That means that I still have a LOT of editing ahead of me, before I can even think about handing the manuscript over to my beta readers (my two older daughters) for review.
It's nonetheless an exciting process to see it take shape. I find myself looking forward to how much I know my beta readers will appreciate certain chapters, elements and events, even as I'm writing them down.
It's nonetheless an exciting process to see it take shape. I find myself looking forward to how much I know my beta readers will appreciate certain chapters, elements and events, even as I'm writing them down.
J.W. Golan
Perseverance. If there's anything that an aspiring writer will need, that has to come first.
My first attempt at writing a fantasy novel - when I was still in high school - was dismal. I was disappointed in it, let alone trying to find an audience. But I learned from the experience, and came back a better writer for it.
My first book to be published - which was in non-fiction - was more than a decade in the making, from the time that I wrote the first draft, to the time that I found a publisher and saw it printed in hardcover. But the result was worth it.
In between I honed my craft, and published articles in magazines, but it was a long road.
Perseverance. Assuming that you have a talent for writing, assuming you have a story to tell, it's perseverance that an aspiring writer will need most.
My first attempt at writing a fantasy novel - when I was still in high school - was dismal. I was disappointed in it, let alone trying to find an audience. But I learned from the experience, and came back a better writer for it.
My first book to be published - which was in non-fiction - was more than a decade in the making, from the time that I wrote the first draft, to the time that I found a publisher and saw it printed in hardcover. But the result was worth it.
In between I honed my craft, and published articles in magazines, but it was a long road.
Perseverance. Assuming that you have a talent for writing, assuming you have a story to tell, it's perseverance that an aspiring writer will need most.
J.W. Golan
The Stormfall Chronicles is the product of many years of concepts for story-lines and characters that have been ruminating through my mind for many years. Some of those ideas go all the way back decades ago to RPGs that I would officiate together with my friends. Others are more recent, evolving out of my experience as a father of three young daughters - now teens.
J.W. Golan
For me, I always have a sense that there was a story there - waiting to be told. A story for which I am merely the conduit, attempting to transcribe and perfect the telling of that story inasmuch as I am able. The story, however, was already there.
I draw on a lot of ideas for characters and events that have been ruminating in my mind for many years, waiting to coalesce into a coherent story. Some of those ideas go back to when I was much younger - while others were added more recently. Once the ideas coalesce into a storyline, however, I am merely attempting to intercede on that story's behalf.
I draw on a lot of ideas for characters and events that have been ruminating in my mind for many years, waiting to coalesce into a coherent story. Some of those ideas go back to when I was much younger - while others were added more recently. Once the ideas coalesce into a storyline, however, I am merely attempting to intercede on that story's behalf.
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