Ask the Author: C. Robert Cales
Answered Questions (6)
C. Robert Cales
When I don't follow the script my imagination has created I get smacked right up the side of the head with writer's block. I find the problem I created and fix it. For me it's really that simple.
Sometimes a writer fails to create the fuel for the machine before sitting down at the keyboard. Lack of fuel is never my problem, but sometimes I get it wrong and get punished.
Sometimes a writer fails to create the fuel for the machine before sitting down at the keyboard. Lack of fuel is never my problem, but sometimes I get it wrong and get punished.
C. Robert Cales
There is untold power in writing. Gifted writers can use words to first disarm the opponent, slip through their defenses and then deliver a crushing blow. A true writer respects that power the way a samurai respect his katana.
That power isn't why I love writing. Working with my imagination to create intriguing stories puts me at peace with the universe. It's also great therapy and it is nice to know that the handle of that katana is at your fingertips.
That power isn't why I love writing. Working with my imagination to create intriguing stories puts me at peace with the universe. It's also great therapy and it is nice to know that the handle of that katana is at your fingertips.
C. Robert Cales
Find you passion and write about it. Find a couple masters of your passion and study their works with wild abandon. Create you masterpiece, but…
Be cautious. The dark waters of publishing are infested with predators. Go ahead, wade in, but watch for something breaking the surface of the water, something like the dorsal fin of a shark. The dorsal fin of these predators looks like this:
$$$$$.
Above all have patience. Without patience the writing craft will chew you up and spit you out.
Be cautious. The dark waters of publishing are infested with predators. Go ahead, wade in, but watch for something breaking the surface of the water, something like the dorsal fin of a shark. The dorsal fin of these predators looks like this:
$$$$$.
Above all have patience. Without patience the writing craft will chew you up and spit you out.
C. Robert Cales
My third novel, Reincarnology. The title describes alien technology discovered circa 1625. They have been keeping the secret and remaking themselves every twenty years (the technology retains all memories). Their secret has been leaked and if they can't stop the journalist before he can divulge it they are going to kill all of us, ending the need for a secret.
C. Robert Cales
I'm inspired to write because the thought of my imagination with no outlet is very scary.
I start with an idea. With Devil Glass it was an ancient artifact with a doorway into a world of winged predators. The idea behind The Bookseller was a reincarnating nonhuman spirit responsible for many of the great atrocities throughout history.
I add some appropriate characters and turn everything over to my imagination.
I go back periodically and watch the short film clips that have been prepared for me. I believe the entire story is written, stored in a file somewhere and is being metered out to me.
If I take a misstep that threatens the story I get introduced to a good case of writer's block. I've learned to go back over the last couple of pages and look for the misstep. Once it's corrected the creative flow returns.
I've killed off some good characters, but not all by design. Sometimes a sacrifice is demanded. Oh, I try to stand my ground. That's too good of a character to die! That character represents a great deal of work! I like that character! My pleading is always ignored and the story is always better for it.
The clever answer is that my imagination has a gun to my head and it's either my fingers or my brains on the keyboard.
Maybe I've been possessed by an alien ghost with a strong desire to give readers nightmares.
I start with an idea. With Devil Glass it was an ancient artifact with a doorway into a world of winged predators. The idea behind The Bookseller was a reincarnating nonhuman spirit responsible for many of the great atrocities throughout history.
I add some appropriate characters and turn everything over to my imagination.
I go back periodically and watch the short film clips that have been prepared for me. I believe the entire story is written, stored in a file somewhere and is being metered out to me.
If I take a misstep that threatens the story I get introduced to a good case of writer's block. I've learned to go back over the last couple of pages and look for the misstep. Once it's corrected the creative flow returns.
I've killed off some good characters, but not all by design. Sometimes a sacrifice is demanded. Oh, I try to stand my ground. That's too good of a character to die! That character represents a great deal of work! I like that character! My pleading is always ignored and the story is always better for it.
The clever answer is that my imagination has a gun to my head and it's either my fingers or my brains on the keyboard.
Maybe I've been possessed by an alien ghost with a strong desire to give readers nightmares.
C. Robert Cales
I have a vivid, dynamic imagination with no off-switch.
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