Ask the Author: Torion Oey
Answered Questions (6)
Torion Oey
A high fantasy story.
Torion Oey
I'm wary of this question since an answer could be construed as egotistical. And it very well may be. If I were to provide an answer mildly satisfying, I'd say the best thing is the freedom. But if I were to be honest, I'd say I don't know.
Torion Oey
For Loco Motive, what first inspired me was Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight". I admired his use of dialogue to drive a story as well as admired how the story was constrained to a single room. In this regard I viewed my story as more of an exercise than a story. I was also inspired by the 1945 film adaptation of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" as well as the 1957 film "12 Angry Men". Ironically, Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express" and its various film adaptations were absent from my mind while writing my story since I hadn't read nor seen any of them. The idea for a train setting was gotten from the video game "Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door".
Torion Oey
Generally, aspiring writers are already writers. I don't consider myself an aspiring runner if I'm already going out on runs. In the sense of professionalism or having the title of "novelist" or "author" or whatnot they may not be considered writers, but I find that to be an unnecessary mental barrier distracting from what truly makes a writer. As for advice, I don't like giving advice. It's typically disappointing due to its banality, and if it isn't banal it typically doesn't work. If I had to give advice it would be non-directive and more so resemble an idiom than actual advice. I'd say something like "A computer is a convenient modality of expression while a notebook is an affectual modality of expression."
Torion Oey
It's a rather philosophical question, similar to "Why do you get up in the morning?" Obligation may be an answer or at least partly an answer, though the connotations run rather opposite to the notion of inspiration. I suppose it's pretty basic, like I have a thought and I want to write it down and maybe expand on it so I do. The thought may be expressed in dialogue or description or metaphor. It may be lost entirely to a new thought. Either way, by that point I'm writing. As to what shaped that thought, it could be anything. I once saw a bottle of Fiji water on a shelf in the supermarket and my mind concocted some fictitious situation in which a character who was high started talking about Fiji water as if it were a drug and then began tipping a stapler into his mouth, mistaking the stapler for a Fiji bottle. I have yet to incorporate this thought into any actual story, though the potential is there.
Torion Oey
I don't push it. If I'm blanking, I just stop. In cases where I absolutely must write something or if I have the drive but no inspiration, I may temporarily employ a cliche since they're easy to use. If the cliche is absolutely sickening then it may act as a catalyst for inspiration to emerge, since working with garbage is more motivating than working with nothing. In less time-pressing instances I sometimes pick up something else to read.
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