Ask the Author: Jim Shanahan
Answered Questions (4)
Jim Shanahan
I try to write what I myself would like to read. If I find it interesting, then I hope that those who like similar stories will be interested enough to try my work. As I am still early on the writing pathway, I think my experience has shown me the value of just sitting down and try to write for twenty minutes. If you make it that far, you may write more, but at least try to do that amount. Continue the next day and so on, until you begin to build up your writing muscles.
Jim Shanahan
For ideas, I turn my mind to all the previous writing and art that I have experienced during my life. These can lead to starting points for scenes that I will use but in an altered way. Sometimes, forcing a half-formed scene into words leads to it evolving into something useful. Overall, its best to read a lot and blend ideas from many sources.
Jim Shanahan
I've always liked the way that words have power. They shape our thinking as they mould our minds with their invisible hands. Depending on the skill that a writer achieves in wielding them, they can create imagery and ideas that grow and spread far beyond any containment, and these can stretch down through the years to touch generations yet to be born. That is the beauty and majesty of great writing. It never dies, but lives on in the souls of all that discover it.
Jim Shanahan
For all my books, the ideas don't come to me fully formed. I have to work hard to create them, bit by bit. It is like driving a car through a fog, where you can only see a few yards ahead the whole journey. Little by little, I know I can reach my destination eventually, just as long as I keep trying to move forward. In my first book, the first chapter I wrote was actually chapter two in the book, Crossing. This was the initial starting point and from there, I worked to expand the world that I had brought into focus.
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