Ask the Author: Trevor Farrell
Answered Questions (4)
Trevor Farrell
There are a lot of perks to being a writer.
When I was writing my first novel, I mostly went into it without any expectations of making it big. I pretty much just set my goals at being able to point at something on a coffee table and shout at the top of my lungs "I wrote that! There's a book that exists out there that has my name on it! Because I wrote it!" So that felt pretty good.
There are other perks, of course. Being able to sit down and build a whole universe of your own design. I'd be lying if I said there weren't days when I might get excited over jumping into a particular world centered around some fascinating core idea.
Being a self-publisher, the act of putting together, editing, accepting feedback on, publishing, and promoting your book is always a satisfying hobby. (Hell, I'm partaking in that right now.) Even more amazing is that it's a hobby you can make a little money off of. It's always awe inspiring when you can get to a point where people will pay you to do something you enjoy doing -- even if it's really just silent talking.
When I was writing my first novel, I mostly went into it without any expectations of making it big. I pretty much just set my goals at being able to point at something on a coffee table and shout at the top of my lungs "I wrote that! There's a book that exists out there that has my name on it! Because I wrote it!" So that felt pretty good.
There are other perks, of course. Being able to sit down and build a whole universe of your own design. I'd be lying if I said there weren't days when I might get excited over jumping into a particular world centered around some fascinating core idea.
Being a self-publisher, the act of putting together, editing, accepting feedback on, publishing, and promoting your book is always a satisfying hobby. (Hell, I'm partaking in that right now.) Even more amazing is that it's a hobby you can make a little money off of. It's always awe inspiring when you can get to a point where people will pay you to do something you enjoy doing -- even if it's really just silent talking.
Trevor Farrell
I'm presently toying around with the idea of a science fiction work set in an era of human history where interplanetary colonization is achieved.
The idea came to me while I was studying the July crisis -- it occurred to me that in a time where Hohmann transfer orbits would take months, at best, to guide spaceships to their destinations between worlds, the concept of mutually assured destruction doesn't hold. Further, diplomacy without instantaneous communication -- one that relied on messages sent at light speed, which would take hours in some cases -- would present a very different political view than the ones we're used to presently.
It occurred to me, while thinking this over... isn't the prospect of another grand war between empires a future possibility? Could it be that we, as humans, haven't outgrown war the likes of WW1 or WW2?
The idea came to me while I was studying the July crisis -- it occurred to me that in a time where Hohmann transfer orbits would take months, at best, to guide spaceships to their destinations between worlds, the concept of mutually assured destruction doesn't hold. Further, diplomacy without instantaneous communication -- one that relied on messages sent at light speed, which would take hours in some cases -- would present a very different political view than the ones we're used to presently.
It occurred to me, while thinking this over... isn't the prospect of another grand war between empires a future possibility? Could it be that we, as humans, haven't outgrown war the likes of WW1 or WW2?
Trevor Farrell
I think it's important to remember that creativity isn't stagnant -- it's a constantly changing, dynamic process. It isn't some sort of finite, non-renewable resource that must be mined to the point of depletion. It can be replenished.
I think it's also important to remember that humans are pretty bad (in the grand scheme of things) when it comes to producing entirely original creative works. The place where our colors truly shine seems to lie in our ability to synthesize ideas together like a collage. I've never seen a unicorn before. But I've seen horses, and I've seen things with horns. And thus, my mind is capable of putting together that particular image, this synthesis of real-world ideas to create something entirely unseen before.
Whenever I find myself with writers block, I try to give myself a break to go out and do something I've never done before. It's important to subjugate yourself to new experiences, if not just so that you might have something worth writing about, or even just to be able to enjoy an experience-filled life.
A few things that've worked for me:
-Learn how to tie balloon animals. Stand somewhere and give out free balloons.
-Invest in cryptocurrency -- and do so badly.
-Play a video game the "wrong" way, and write about a character in a similar situation as the protagonist of the game.
-Purchase and use a flip phone for two months.
-Try something that's only technically not illegal.
-Find a one of a kind hat that's for sale in a shop 45 minutes away by car. Buy it.
-Rent out and shoot a firearm.
-Wake up at a completely different time of day to do something unique.
And above all else, read. As a writer, it's hard to work without guidance from the authors we've derived our styles from. A fair amount of know-how when it comes to driving a car is learned from watching how our parents drive, growing up -- and for writing, it's no different.
I think it's also important to remember that humans are pretty bad (in the grand scheme of things) when it comes to producing entirely original creative works. The place where our colors truly shine seems to lie in our ability to synthesize ideas together like a collage. I've never seen a unicorn before. But I've seen horses, and I've seen things with horns. And thus, my mind is capable of putting together that particular image, this synthesis of real-world ideas to create something entirely unseen before.
Whenever I find myself with writers block, I try to give myself a break to go out and do something I've never done before. It's important to subjugate yourself to new experiences, if not just so that you might have something worth writing about, or even just to be able to enjoy an experience-filled life.
A few things that've worked for me:
-Learn how to tie balloon animals. Stand somewhere and give out free balloons.
-Invest in cryptocurrency -- and do so badly.
-Play a video game the "wrong" way, and write about a character in a similar situation as the protagonist of the game.
-Purchase and use a flip phone for two months.
-Try something that's only technically not illegal.
-Find a one of a kind hat that's for sale in a shop 45 minutes away by car. Buy it.
-Rent out and shoot a firearm.
-Wake up at a completely different time of day to do something unique.
And above all else, read. As a writer, it's hard to work without guidance from the authors we've derived our styles from. A fair amount of know-how when it comes to driving a car is learned from watching how our parents drive, growing up -- and for writing, it's no different.
Trevor Farrell
I have no advice for aspiring writers. I have only advice for writers.
Write. Write constantly. Write as much as you can.
Every waking moment you have where you're not doing something else is an opportunity. On the bus ride. In bed before falling asleep. While eating a particularly boring meal. I've written more chapters than I care to admit in my trusty notebook while attending my lectures. Even for busy people, the time to write exists. It's out there, waiting for you to seize it.
That's why I have a distaste for the term "aspiring writers," or for people who start by saying "Oh, I've always wanted to be a writer, but..." followed by whatever reason they might have for putting it off. There's no such thing as an aspiring writer. If you write, you're a writer. If you don't write, you're not a writer. It's as simple as that.
It's not always pretty, and scarcely ever glamorous. I've heard writers liken it to the frustration of scraping ice away from the inside of a freezer. It's hard work putting your ideas down on paper in a manner you can feel proud of. I still haven't reliably figured it out.
But if you want to be a writer, you need to write. That's the only prerequisite. Simple as that. Just because something's simple, though, scarcely ever means it has to be easy.
Write. Write constantly. Write as much as you can.
Every waking moment you have where you're not doing something else is an opportunity. On the bus ride. In bed before falling asleep. While eating a particularly boring meal. I've written more chapters than I care to admit in my trusty notebook while attending my lectures. Even for busy people, the time to write exists. It's out there, waiting for you to seize it.
That's why I have a distaste for the term "aspiring writers," or for people who start by saying "Oh, I've always wanted to be a writer, but..." followed by whatever reason they might have for putting it off. There's no such thing as an aspiring writer. If you write, you're a writer. If you don't write, you're not a writer. It's as simple as that.
It's not always pretty, and scarcely ever glamorous. I've heard writers liken it to the frustration of scraping ice away from the inside of a freezer. It's hard work putting your ideas down on paper in a manner you can feel proud of. I still haven't reliably figured it out.
But if you want to be a writer, you need to write. That's the only prerequisite. Simple as that. Just because something's simple, though, scarcely ever means it has to be easy.
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