Ask the Author: Basil Sparks
Answered Questions (5)
Basil Sparks
I am presently working on a children's fantasy, three part, series. It will be fun, intense, with tons of action, twists, and intrigue. Writing fantasy is new to me, so I am learning with every stroke of the pen.
At the same time, I am also working on a book that addresses a couple of the big thoughts of Agnostic thinking - as expressed by University students. Let me know which you would be most interested in.
At the same time, I am also working on a book that addresses a couple of the big thoughts of Agnostic thinking - as expressed by University students. Let me know which you would be most interested in.
Basil Sparks
Start writing. Often you will have an idea but then not know where to start. But what often happens is that as you start writing, ideas also come. You don't have to do it perfectly first time. Don't listen to pessimists or those who do not believe in you. Try, and keep trying.
Basil Sparks
There are different ways I do this. One way is to get away from my normal setting. A different space always helps. Then, I am always making notes. Every time I think of something I could include, I write it down. After a while a picture begins forming and I can write again. If I am really struggling I focus on cleaning up what I have already written. Working with existing material often stimulates creativity again.
Basil Sparks
Gustave Flaubert said, "The art of writing is the art of
discovering what you believe.” Writing causes me think deeply and form responses that are not reactionary, and in the process truly discovering what I believe. It is one thing to pen a thought, but quite another to look at that thought and ask, is that what I really believe. Writing forces me to face up to what it is I hold as truth.
discovering what you believe.” Writing causes me think deeply and form responses that are not reactionary, and in the process truly discovering what I believe. It is one thing to pen a thought, but quite another to look at that thought and ask, is that what I really believe. Writing forces me to face up to what it is I hold as truth.
Basil Sparks
After reading my book, Unshackled, a young woman of colour wrote a review titled: ‘I Read a Book by a White Middle-aged Man’ in which she stated, “I write this very ‘clickbaity’ title as a young woman of colour. I live in a complex post-modern world where in many ways the world seems to be plummeting into further desecration. And yes, public enemy number one happens to be those who are, as the title so bluntly puts it, White men, who have lived long enough to have profited from a patriarchal society and have been indoctrinated by a racist landscape, both subtle and blatant. Add the fact that Basil is a Christian, and he immediately qualified for ‘cancelling’.” To be fair to Zara, her review of Unshackled was both complimentary and generous. Her words affirmed me whilst again leading me to ask, “Have I lost my voice?” and “How can I find it again?”
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