Ask the Author: Stanley Percival Simmonds
Answered Questions (5)
Stanley Percival Simmonds
Now I ended up here. No seriously, I have no clue.
Stanley Percival Simmonds
Creating worlds.
Stanley Percival Simmonds
Go for a walk (take a dicta phone), have a cup of tea, and possibly an afternoon nap.
Stanley Percival Simmonds
Lord of the Rings, obviously. I'd go and visit the iron mountains, and maybe Western Gondor.
Stanley Percival Simmonds
1) You have to sit down and write. Reserve time to do the writing, and sit down at the computer and write - even if it is gibberish. Do the work. Try setting a target of number of words for the time slot.
2) Story is king. If even your precious idea, twist, or clever prose doesn't fit the story, it has to go.
3) You can scope out the bones of the story and/or try the seat of the pants method (just seeing where the story leads you). If you are exploring the new world, then it may well be worth letting the story lead - the world builds itself, but then keeping it consistent requires keeping a bible to refer back to.
4) The downside of seat of the pants is it may not fit into the 3-act structure, and you are creating yourself a massive editing job.
5) The downside of more structured writing is that you set points to get to, and then have to get there, and sometimes this can make the transition tedious and/or boring.
6) 300 pages (100,000 words) is about right for a novel, so write 130,000 and edit down.
7) Lore makes for a richer world. Whether it is explicit in the story, or just used to inform the writing.
8) Names inform characters and places. You certainly should spend time choosing them carefully.
9) First-person, third Person, be consistent!
10) For the love of all things sci-fi, keep contemporary politics out. It is called escapism for a reason.
2) Story is king. If even your precious idea, twist, or clever prose doesn't fit the story, it has to go.
3) You can scope out the bones of the story and/or try the seat of the pants method (just seeing where the story leads you). If you are exploring the new world, then it may well be worth letting the story lead - the world builds itself, but then keeping it consistent requires keeping a bible to refer back to.
4) The downside of seat of the pants is it may not fit into the 3-act structure, and you are creating yourself a massive editing job.
5) The downside of more structured writing is that you set points to get to, and then have to get there, and sometimes this can make the transition tedious and/or boring.
6) 300 pages (100,000 words) is about right for a novel, so write 130,000 and edit down.
7) Lore makes for a richer world. Whether it is explicit in the story, or just used to inform the writing.
8) Names inform characters and places. You certainly should spend time choosing them carefully.
9) First-person, third Person, be consistent!
10) For the love of all things sci-fi, keep contemporary politics out. It is called escapism for a reason.
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