Ask the Author: Todd Crawshaw
Answered Questions (9)
Todd Crawshaw
How one remark by a fortune-teller who I visited as a fluke when I was age twenty-one radically changed the course of my life.
Todd Crawshaw
I am working on the final editing and polishing of a new novel I wrote during the year 2020. It is called The Center’s Edge Revisited. Here is a link to view the synopsis: https://toddcrawshaw.com/the-centers-...
Todd Crawshaw
I love creating imaginary worlds and becoming other people of any age and gender. "To write the text you have to live in the myth of it.” — John Fowles.
Todd Crawshaw
I have not had that problem, fortunately. So I have no answer.
Todd Crawshaw
The freak fall resulted in a blow to his brainstem and left him in a condition called locked-in syndrome, whereby he was mentally aware but physically paralyzed. He lived alone with four household cats and, after several days in this helpless state, his pets began to eat him alive to survive.
Todd Crawshaw
Utopia Avenue, David Mitchell &
Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Max Tegmark
Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Max Tegmark
Todd Crawshaw
Ideas for a novel come to me from time to time. Only a few germinate until I can’t resist the desire and need to develop the story, to explore this imaginary world, and to fulfill this mysterious vision that has inspired me. I consider writing fiction to be a visual art. To quote John Gardner: “The organized and intelligent fictional dream that will eventually fill the reader’s mind begins as a largely mysterious dream in the writer’s mind.” Likewise, Charles Dickens said: “An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself.”
Todd Crawshaw
Here are 3 tips for writing fiction:
Tip 1: Ask yourself: Why am I writing this book? To quote Robertson Davies (Fifth Business, Rebel Angels): “There is absolutely no point in sitting down to write a book unless you feel that you must write that book, or else go mad, or die.” A rather extreme statement, but that is how passionate I feel when I embark on writing a novel. It relates to what Michelangelo once said: “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
Tip 2: Don’t write a novel for the sake of making money. If financial success happens, great. We all want to profit from our artistic efforts. But the priority should always be: write from your heart to produce authentic meaningful art.
Tip 3: Don’t listen to me. Listen to the voices in your head. Not psychotic voices. I explore that concept in my novel God, Sex & Psychosis. What I mean is the voices of those who have inspired you to become a writer - your artist heroes. These are the voices, the muses, who will gift you with inspiration when you delve into the creative zone or, what Jung called, the collective unconscious.
Tip 1: Ask yourself: Why am I writing this book? To quote Robertson Davies (Fifth Business, Rebel Angels): “There is absolutely no point in sitting down to write a book unless you feel that you must write that book, or else go mad, or die.” A rather extreme statement, but that is how passionate I feel when I embark on writing a novel. It relates to what Michelangelo once said: “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
Tip 2: Don’t write a novel for the sake of making money. If financial success happens, great. We all want to profit from our artistic efforts. But the priority should always be: write from your heart to produce authentic meaningful art.
Tip 3: Don’t listen to me. Listen to the voices in your head. Not psychotic voices. I explore that concept in my novel God, Sex & Psychosis. What I mean is the voices of those who have inspired you to become a writer - your artist heroes. These are the voices, the muses, who will gift you with inspiration when you delve into the creative zone or, what Jung called, the collective unconscious.
Todd Crawshaw
I was inspired by three sources: Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Voltaire’s Candide, and the fable The Ant and the Grasshopper. These two novellas are favorites of mine. I love how they are succinct and memorable. I wanted to emulate these iconic books by also creating a unique experience that would be both timely and timeless, and could be read in one sitting, in the time it takes to watch a movie. My intent was to write one of the sweetest, saddest stories ever told and, yet, ultimately transcends into an antidepressant, uplifting tale.
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