Ask the Author: Jayson Jolin
Answered Questions (7)
Jayson Jolin
I was asked to write a two-sentence horror story, but I'm not a horror writer; certainly, anything I wrote would be used against me, my efforts mocked and ridiculed. Nervously, I put my best effort forward, trying to be brave, but I knew what I had written was lame and would shame me, so I clicked Cancel...only, to my dread, to realize that I accidentally hit Submit instead....
Jayson Jolin
This is a difficult one; usually, the fictional worlds I read about are pretty dangerous places. If I could assure my safety, I'd love to explore Ringworld, so long as I had a way back home again.
Jayson Jolin
*Only use one point-of-view character per scene. Don't hop between POVs - it gives your readers mental whiplash to be bounced around like that.
*Take lots of notes about your story as you write, if not before you write, and refer back to them often. Pay attention to character tags - those elements that describe your character physically, mentally, and socially. This will help you avoid things like having your moody red-haired female lead character accidentally transform over the course of your novel into a jovial blonde man by the end. That's an extreme case, but things like that do happen. Tags keep your character's identity consistent for the reader until you intentionally change one of them as part of the character's growth.
*Take lots of notes about your story as you write, if not before you write, and refer back to them often. Pay attention to character tags - those elements that describe your character physically, mentally, and socially. This will help you avoid things like having your moody red-haired female lead character accidentally transform over the course of your novel into a jovial blonde man by the end. That's an extreme case, but things like that do happen. Tags keep your character's identity consistent for the reader until you intentionally change one of them as part of the character's growth.
Jayson Jolin
Sometimes, you get an idea for a scene in your story, and the entire scene unfolds in your mind, from beginning to end. You can't get to your computer fast enough, or write fast enough; it is just so good that you have to get it written now! And then you finish it, and you re-read it, and you get just as excited with each sentence you read as you were when you were writing it. Even after tweaks, even after edits, that excitement remains. And then you finish writing the story and let it sit for a while, then come back and read it, and you reach that scene and that rush of excitement and joy comes back as strong as ever. You know, just know, that if anyone else ever reads it they'll feel the same way, because you put that joy into that scene.
Jayson Jolin
Great stories make me want to be in that story; they draw me in and make me want to take the reigns of the main character. When I read a Spider-Man comic, I want to be Spidey. When I watch the Zorro tv series, I envision myself as Zorro. When I think up a setting or a character that draws me in like that, I can't wait to write about it, develop it, live it in my mind, and then share it with others.
Jayson Jolin
At the moment, I'm working on cover designs for the remaining books in my Fate Of The Forged series. I'm also brainstorming ideas for other stories set in the same world, but independent of the original series.
Jayson Jolin
The best way to avoid writer's block is to plan out your story in advance of the manuscript. I use a variation of the method created by Randy Ingermanson, by which you start by summing up your story in one sentence, then expand that summary into a paragraph, then expand each sentence in that paragraph in a paragraph, etc, until you have a scene-by-scene breakdown of your story. By the time you start your manuscript, you already know where each scene is going; you just have to decide the specifics of each scene. You never have to ask "What comes next?" because you already know.
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