Ask the Author: Kyle West
Answered Questions (9)
Kyle West
I would love to see the universe conjured up by Ian M. Banks in his Culture series. Living in a society where super-intelligent AI's took care of everything, allowing humans to pursue their own interests and goals without the need to earn it through a living, would be pretty neat, and I'd have the opportunity to travel the galaxy.
I'd also love to see Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time universe. It would be cool to see things like The White Tower or the Stone of Tear in person.
I'd also love to see Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time universe. It would be cool to see things like The White Tower or the Stone of Tear in person.
Kyle West
Daily life and excuses. Writing a book takes a lot of time and it's easy to convince yourself it isn't worth it, especially when starting out. Writing a book is the classic definition of a long term goal that has no immediate payoff. Worse, once you're done with the book itself, there are still editing steps and handling the logistics of getting it to market. All of those things combined probably keep people from writing a book more than anything.
The actual mechanics of writing (characters, plot, research) is actually the easy part. It takes a lot of practice, years of it, to get good enough to where people don't want to put your book down. After you learn to write an entertaining book, you have to deal with the really hard part - getting people to notice it! I got lucky, but I also worked hard to get there. Thanks for your question, Nick, and sorry it took four years to answer it, though my answer is by no means comprehensive! I'm not on here often enough
The actual mechanics of writing (characters, plot, research) is actually the easy part. It takes a lot of practice, years of it, to get good enough to where people don't want to put your book down. After you learn to write an entertaining book, you have to deal with the really hard part - getting people to notice it! I got lucky, but I also worked hard to get there. Thanks for your question, Nick, and sorry it took four years to answer it, though my answer is by no means comprehensive! I'm not on here often enough
Kyle West
Sorry I just saw this question! I wasn't notified of it for some reason. I co-wrote it with my friend, Jelani Sims. It's a zombie survival choose your own adventure. It's a lot of fun, and you should give it a read! It's not as well-written as Wasteland Chronicles (I was in my learning phase) but people have told me they enjoyed it.
Kyle West
I'm working on The Starsea Cycle, a space opera/epic fantasy hybrid. There are spaceships, mages, and prophecies, all in a future where magic becomes not only possible but extremely dangerous to use. It's been a lot of fun.
Kyle West
This will be long.
1. Write. It's repeated so often that it's cliche, but that's really all that matters in the beginning. Set up a time in your schedule that's sacred, every day, that will not be interrupted. In my day job days, that was from 5-7 in the morning and hours at a time on the weekends. I wrote my first six books on that schedule. It can be done, and not having much of a life helps. Get out of the house only if you feel like you're going insane.
2. I also kind of realized, even as a young man, that life is all too short, so we need to spend that precious time doing the things that matter. I don't have a family, but people with families have been able to do what I've done, and in many cases, they have been far more successful.
3. Don't make excuses, just do it! It was liberating to not think about writing as a hobby or a passion, but a job first. If something's a job, you do it whether you want to or not...and there will be plenty of days where you don't want to write. Writers who can break through that barrier are the ones on their way. It's by the time you've written several books that you're usually good enough to write a book people might want to read. When I look at the early, early drafts of Apocalypse, I wonder if that was even me, it is so awful. It takes a long time - writing is a marathon, not a sprint - and the writers who recognize this are the ones who come out on top.
4. Read a lot. Make it your primary source of entertainment. I'd recommend going slow, or at a pace comfortable with you. Really take time to soak in the words and envision the world as the author meant it. Start catching the author's technique, or filing away interesting things the characters say. At the same time, notice the things you don't like, and try to avoid that in your own writing in the future. Become a sponge for stories.
5. I also think beginning writers are overly concerned with being original. Just write a good story and learn the rules, and your readers will be happy. Once you learn the rules and gain the tools of craftsmanship, you'll know when and how to bend them. It was only by the time I was writing the fourth book in my series that I was able to implement all the crazy ideas I was getting and have them make at least some sense. Until that book, nothing about what I was doing was all that original. Equip yourself with daily practice, to where the thoughts in your head manifest themselves as you envision on the page. That's the key, and it only comes with hours and hours of logging in your time. My parents taught me to be the type of person who never made excuses, and I think that's helped me get where I am today, too. So never make excuses, and realize it's up to you...if you really want it and work for it and you have some talent, you can do it.
6. Also, if going the indie route, don't skimp on an amazing cover or top notch editing. I skimped on the latter in my beginning days and it bit me in the butt. See yourself as a professional starting a new business (which you totally are) and be prepared to pay good money to make a professional product. Series usually sell better than standalones, and in my experience, at least in sci-fi fantasy, most readers expect a novel around 75,000-80,000 words, so try to aim for that or higher. If you present yourself as a professional, you will be treated as such. If you have a crappy cover and bad editing, don't be surprised if you're treated as as amateur (because that's what an amateur does). If anything else, look at the books in the Top 100 of the genre you're interested in writing in. If your books look anything like that, it's a good indication they will sell decently (though there are no guarantees). Figuring out the writing aspect and the marketing aspect are like piecing the puzzle together, but the most important part of building a writing career is the writing itself.
1. Write. It's repeated so often that it's cliche, but that's really all that matters in the beginning. Set up a time in your schedule that's sacred, every day, that will not be interrupted. In my day job days, that was from 5-7 in the morning and hours at a time on the weekends. I wrote my first six books on that schedule. It can be done, and not having much of a life helps. Get out of the house only if you feel like you're going insane.
2. I also kind of realized, even as a young man, that life is all too short, so we need to spend that precious time doing the things that matter. I don't have a family, but people with families have been able to do what I've done, and in many cases, they have been far more successful.
3. Don't make excuses, just do it! It was liberating to not think about writing as a hobby or a passion, but a job first. If something's a job, you do it whether you want to or not...and there will be plenty of days where you don't want to write. Writers who can break through that barrier are the ones on their way. It's by the time you've written several books that you're usually good enough to write a book people might want to read. When I look at the early, early drafts of Apocalypse, I wonder if that was even me, it is so awful. It takes a long time - writing is a marathon, not a sprint - and the writers who recognize this are the ones who come out on top.
4. Read a lot. Make it your primary source of entertainment. I'd recommend going slow, or at a pace comfortable with you. Really take time to soak in the words and envision the world as the author meant it. Start catching the author's technique, or filing away interesting things the characters say. At the same time, notice the things you don't like, and try to avoid that in your own writing in the future. Become a sponge for stories.
5. I also think beginning writers are overly concerned with being original. Just write a good story and learn the rules, and your readers will be happy. Once you learn the rules and gain the tools of craftsmanship, you'll know when and how to bend them. It was only by the time I was writing the fourth book in my series that I was able to implement all the crazy ideas I was getting and have them make at least some sense. Until that book, nothing about what I was doing was all that original. Equip yourself with daily practice, to where the thoughts in your head manifest themselves as you envision on the page. That's the key, and it only comes with hours and hours of logging in your time. My parents taught me to be the type of person who never made excuses, and I think that's helped me get where I am today, too. So never make excuses, and realize it's up to you...if you really want it and work for it and you have some talent, you can do it.
6. Also, if going the indie route, don't skimp on an amazing cover or top notch editing. I skimped on the latter in my beginning days and it bit me in the butt. See yourself as a professional starting a new business (which you totally are) and be prepared to pay good money to make a professional product. Series usually sell better than standalones, and in my experience, at least in sci-fi fantasy, most readers expect a novel around 75,000-80,000 words, so try to aim for that or higher. If you present yourself as a professional, you will be treated as such. If you have a crappy cover and bad editing, don't be surprised if you're treated as as amateur (because that's what an amateur does). If anything else, look at the books in the Top 100 of the genre you're interested in writing in. If your books look anything like that, it's a good indication they will sell decently (though there are no guarantees). Figuring out the writing aspect and the marketing aspect are like piecing the puzzle together, but the most important part of building a writing career is the writing itself.
Kyle West
Besides not having to wear pants, when you get down to it, making up stuff for a living is pretty cool. I also love to interact with fans and answer their questions. It's always amazing when someone halfway across the country (or the world, for that matter) reaches out and tells me how much they enjoyed my books. It seems unreal.
Kyle West
Hide? I used to not think of myself as a writer who got writer's block, and I foolishly thought that it must just be imaginary. I found out after finishing Xenofall that it's a real thing. My writer's block was a bit different; instead of not being able to come up with anything, I could think and write, it's just everything was something I wasn't happy with, and it was only in September that the novel I started was the one I wanted to keep. Now, things are much better, and I'm glad I went with this version rather than pressuring myself to work with something not as great.
Kyle West
On the best days, I'm already inspired, and that's when writing is easy. But I don't feel like this most days, believe it or not. Most days, writing is work. If I only wrote when I was inspired, nothing would ever get done. Also, lots of coffee, and going out for a walk or a run, or talking it over with a friend, helps quite a bit.
Kyle West
I got the idea while I was working on my last series, actually, probably around the fourth book or so. I thought about how cool it might be to have a new series taking place four hundred following the events of the old one, that dealt with a new invasion, and a very different world. The idea has been a lot of fun to develop, because would-building is one of the most satisfying parts of writing science fiction and fantasy.
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