Ask the Author: Jack Wells
Answered Questions (6)
Jack Wells
If you have the desire to write, and even an inkling of an idea that you think is intriguing, then don't wait. Naturally, it doesn't hurt to brainstorm and flesh it out a bit. But it's very easy to get into "analysis paralysis", where all you're doing is thinking of ideas and not actually jotting them down.
So just start getting them down. Even if it's not pretty. Even if it doesn't flow the way you want it to. The sooner you get it down, the sooner you can start fine-tuning it into the kind of story you want it to be. Nearly any idea can be work exploring, so long as you're willing to commit.
Even if you aren't in the mood, challenge yourself to write almost every day. Set yourself a word count goal. Even if it's just 500 words. Every little bit gets you closer to the finish line.
And, honestly, get beta-reader input. It can be invaluable for helping to motivate you, as well as giving you insight into how your works are perceived by others. Just because you think it comes across a certain way, your beta readers may take something completely different away from a scenario. And you'll want to know those things.
So just start getting them down. Even if it's not pretty. Even if it doesn't flow the way you want it to. The sooner you get it down, the sooner you can start fine-tuning it into the kind of story you want it to be. Nearly any idea can be work exploring, so long as you're willing to commit.
Even if you aren't in the mood, challenge yourself to write almost every day. Set yourself a word count goal. Even if it's just 500 words. Every little bit gets you closer to the finish line.
And, honestly, get beta-reader input. It can be invaluable for helping to motivate you, as well as giving you insight into how your works are perceived by others. Just because you think it comes across a certain way, your beta readers may take something completely different away from a scenario. And you'll want to know those things.
Jack Wells
I honestly have no idea. Finalizing and publishing a book takes so much attention to detail, so I haven't even seen what's come out recently. Which is a shame. I love reading, and truly need to get back to it. Finding the balance between reading and writing is proving difficult!
Jack Wells
It was actually in response to an open call for submissions for a pulp collection in Utah. The request was for any dark/pulpy/subversive works that maybe had been sitting around, but that might not fit with most publications. By the time I received the request, there were three weeks left for open submissions.
When I think of pulp stories, I immediately visualize gritty hardboiled detective stories; populated with tough guys, buxom femme fatales, big cars, and long shadows.
So I wanted to tell that kind of story, but not in the standard or expected way. And definitely not in the expected time period. So I tried to think of a decade where the pulp concept wasn't very well represented. Just to make things difficult. And nothing is the anti-thesis to those types of stories than the vibrant 80's. And yet I still wanted that old-timey feel, and that's where the initial concept of the world being black-and-white came from. To take the loudest decade (visually) and strip it down.
From there, it was just a question of how to populate it with interesting characters. Characters who skirted the edge of the expected tropes without being completely beholden to them.
Initially, Monochrome Noire was only going to be a short story. And that's how it was submitted to the local publication. But then the concept kept growing and evolving. It went from a short story to a novella. And then from a novella into the beast it has grown into.
When I think of pulp stories, I immediately visualize gritty hardboiled detective stories; populated with tough guys, buxom femme fatales, big cars, and long shadows.
So I wanted to tell that kind of story, but not in the standard or expected way. And definitely not in the expected time period. So I tried to think of a decade where the pulp concept wasn't very well represented. Just to make things difficult. And nothing is the anti-thesis to those types of stories than the vibrant 80's. And yet I still wanted that old-timey feel, and that's where the initial concept of the world being black-and-white came from. To take the loudest decade (visually) and strip it down.
From there, it was just a question of how to populate it with interesting characters. Characters who skirted the edge of the expected tropes without being completely beholden to them.
Initially, Monochrome Noire was only going to be a short story. And that's how it was submitted to the local publication. But then the concept kept growing and evolving. It went from a short story to a novella. And then from a novella into the beast it has grown into.
Jack Wells
Parts 3 and 4 of Monochrome Noir. Part 2 is ready for editing. Part 3 is being written, and Part 4 is in the frameworking/conceptualization stage. I don't get a lot of time to write, so it takes me longer than I'd like.
Jack Wells
Two things;
First, being able to take these crazy ideas that are bouncing around in my head and make them a reality. To be able to write the types of stories that I would also enjoy reading. Unlike some, I'm not a natural verbal storyteller, but I have a love of the written word. So it's a way for me to share with people in the best way that I can.
Two, being able to do it just about anywhere. On a flight? Yep. At an event? Sure. At 2 am when you can't sleep? Consistently! There's an inherent freedom to writing that many other activities/jobs just can't match.
First, being able to take these crazy ideas that are bouncing around in my head and make them a reality. To be able to write the types of stories that I would also enjoy reading. Unlike some, I'm not a natural verbal storyteller, but I have a love of the written word. So it's a way for me to share with people in the best way that I can.
Two, being able to do it just about anywhere. On a flight? Yep. At an event? Sure. At 2 am when you can't sleep? Consistently! There's an inherent freedom to writing that many other activities/jobs just can't match.
Jack Wells
It's a simple question that requires a complicated answer. Realistically there is no "right" way to deal with writer's block. Especially since it can manifest in numerous ways.
Sometimes it's due to a lack of ideas, in which case all you can really do is wait. Brainstorm. See if anything in the real world sparks a concept.
Other times is due to just not being in the groove. The ideas are there, and you pretty much know where the story is going, but you're just not feeling it. And this was the hard one for me. For so many years, if it didn't "feel" right when I was writing, then I simply wouldn't write. The muse had to be hitting in just the right ways. Which, for me, rarely happens. So I was only writing when I was in the zone, which meant not a lot of writing got done. As long as you have the basic framework established, the best thing to do is just write. Even if it's perfunctory and bland. You can always come revisit later and make the flourish edits (which are easier to make once the gist is down anyways).
The third way in which it manifests for me is when I'm starting a new chapter. I may know exactly what will transpire, but I just can't think of the "best" way to kick it off. Again, the cure for this issue is just writing. Even if you start in the middle of the chapter and have to work backwards later. It's so much easier to add to things that are already there. And getting middle or end-of-chapter details may provide the needed inspiration to know exactly how it should all start.
Sometimes it's due to a lack of ideas, in which case all you can really do is wait. Brainstorm. See if anything in the real world sparks a concept.
Other times is due to just not being in the groove. The ideas are there, and you pretty much know where the story is going, but you're just not feeling it. And this was the hard one for me. For so many years, if it didn't "feel" right when I was writing, then I simply wouldn't write. The muse had to be hitting in just the right ways. Which, for me, rarely happens. So I was only writing when I was in the zone, which meant not a lot of writing got done. As long as you have the basic framework established, the best thing to do is just write. Even if it's perfunctory and bland. You can always come revisit later and make the flourish edits (which are easier to make once the gist is down anyways).
The third way in which it manifests for me is when I'm starting a new chapter. I may know exactly what will transpire, but I just can't think of the "best" way to kick it off. Again, the cure for this issue is just writing. Even if you start in the middle of the chapter and have to work backwards later. It's so much easier to add to things that are already there. And getting middle or end-of-chapter details may provide the needed inspiration to know exactly how it should all start.
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