Ask the Author: Nicholas Dufresne
Answered Questions (2)
Nicholas Dufresne
I read. A lot. I’ve been exposed to so many stories and unique concepts that I’ve lost count. The inspiration for my novel A Planet to Nowhere didn’t hit me all at once. Rather, I was reading a sci-fi story one day and thought to myself that it was interesting and well done. Yet, I was disappointed that certain aspects of the plot were never discussed or explored.
So I thought to myself, what if? What if the concept of human experimentation was explored more in depth? What if all the experiments had a purpose and what would the consequences be? And then the ever-present question to my series presented itself: why?
Many more of these what if questions came to me. Eventually, a story began to take shape in my mind throughout. Something far different than what I first started out with. I strung together, piece by piece, a narrative that made sense and would encapsulate all of these elements and questions I so desperately wanted to find in a story.
At the time, I never thought I would be the one to write the story I was looking to read. So I searched, in stores and online, for something even remotely similar to what I envisioned. Only to come up short. This fruitless search led me to one final question: what if I wrote the story instead?
And so in my chair I sat, over months and years, developing characters and a plot that would match my vision. My inspiration never came to me all at once. It was something I worked on constantly and refined over time that led to the end result. At its core though, was the concept of human experimentation performed by alien societies, as well as what first contact would be like in such a scenario.
I will forever be thankful for that first what if question that led me to writing my novel.
So I thought to myself, what if? What if the concept of human experimentation was explored more in depth? What if all the experiments had a purpose and what would the consequences be? And then the ever-present question to my series presented itself: why?
Many more of these what if questions came to me. Eventually, a story began to take shape in my mind throughout. Something far different than what I first started out with. I strung together, piece by piece, a narrative that made sense and would encapsulate all of these elements and questions I so desperately wanted to find in a story.
At the time, I never thought I would be the one to write the story I was looking to read. So I searched, in stores and online, for something even remotely similar to what I envisioned. Only to come up short. This fruitless search led me to one final question: what if I wrote the story instead?
And so in my chair I sat, over months and years, developing characters and a plot that would match my vision. My inspiration never came to me all at once. It was something I worked on constantly and refined over time that led to the end result. At its core though, was the concept of human experimentation performed by alien societies, as well as what first contact would be like in such a scenario.
I will forever be thankful for that first what if question that led me to writing my novel.
Nicholas Dufresne
Start at the beginning, and when you get to the end, stop. It might sound simple, but in practice, it’s incredibly hard to do. So much of yourself goes into the world and characters you create that it can be hard to make something complete. Something whole. Something you’re satisfied with.
This piece of advice resonated with me when I was working on my novel. I had within me something I wanted to share with the world and knew the only way I’d be able to do so was if I sat down and did it myself. Whenever I was stuck writing in a slog, I would think about finally writing down the words “The End” and it gave me the motivation to continue.
A story can be daunting to pen down but can be broken up into tiny, much smaller pieces that you can chip away at until it’s done. You don’t need huge writing sessions where thousands of words flow out of you and into your manuscript. Just do what you can when you can and always keep moving forward.
Each person has within them a voice just waiting to be heard by the world, and I think this is what makes every piece of literature unique. Through written words, you get a glimpse into somebody else’s mind as they breathe life into a story only they could dream up.
It can get hard, finishing that story or editing that chapter but I assure you it’s all worth it in the end. To see other people immerse themselves in your creation and form thoughts and opinions on your story you never thought possible is a wonderful feeling.
Nothing can compare to holding your book in your hands for the first time and realizing that you’re the one that made it all possible. Seeing and feeling a tangible result to all that effort I put into mine made so incredibly proud of what I had accomplished.
It took months to write my first draft and years before it was finally published. And yet, I never stopped chipping away at it, one step at a time. No matter how hard it got, I kept at it. I didn’t wait for motivation to strike me before deciding to write anything down. I wrote and made the inspiration come to me because every word I added gave me new ideas for the next one.
My story is constantly on my mind, and I think up new scenes wherever I go. When I think I find something that works, it leaves me excited to sit down and flesh it out. So far, I’ve written four books in the Genesis Saga series but have only published the first one. I started at my story’s beginning and when I get to the end, I’ll stop.
I just haven’t gotten there yet.
This piece of advice resonated with me when I was working on my novel. I had within me something I wanted to share with the world and knew the only way I’d be able to do so was if I sat down and did it myself. Whenever I was stuck writing in a slog, I would think about finally writing down the words “The End” and it gave me the motivation to continue.
A story can be daunting to pen down but can be broken up into tiny, much smaller pieces that you can chip away at until it’s done. You don’t need huge writing sessions where thousands of words flow out of you and into your manuscript. Just do what you can when you can and always keep moving forward.
Each person has within them a voice just waiting to be heard by the world, and I think this is what makes every piece of literature unique. Through written words, you get a glimpse into somebody else’s mind as they breathe life into a story only they could dream up.
It can get hard, finishing that story or editing that chapter but I assure you it’s all worth it in the end. To see other people immerse themselves in your creation and form thoughts and opinions on your story you never thought possible is a wonderful feeling.
Nothing can compare to holding your book in your hands for the first time and realizing that you’re the one that made it all possible. Seeing and feeling a tangible result to all that effort I put into mine made so incredibly proud of what I had accomplished.
It took months to write my first draft and years before it was finally published. And yet, I never stopped chipping away at it, one step at a time. No matter how hard it got, I kept at it. I didn’t wait for motivation to strike me before deciding to write anything down. I wrote and made the inspiration come to me because every word I added gave me new ideas for the next one.
My story is constantly on my mind, and I think up new scenes wherever I go. When I think I find something that works, it leaves me excited to sit down and flesh it out. So far, I’ve written four books in the Genesis Saga series but have only published the first one. I started at my story’s beginning and when I get to the end, I’ll stop.
I just haven’t gotten there yet.
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