Ask the Author: Brian Berg
Answered Questions (5)
Brian Berg
The earliest and most honest answer to that is...boredom.
I got my big start writing fanfiction just out of high school for anime and other things that I loved, before turning to write REAL stories like the ones I have already, but I guess the REAL start of me writing anything at all was when I was a kid in Texas.
In the 5th grade, I had developed a temper problem and I ended up hurting someone on the playground because of it. For that, my father grounded for 1 year: no TV, no video games, no computer, nothing electronic.
Yeah, I can just see or hear you guys right now thinking: "Yeah, right, a year? No way..."
WAY.
Like any other kid in the 90s, I was hooked on that stuff. When I couldn't do any of that, I had no choice but to start reading to keep myself from being bored. I learned about books like Tolkien's Hobbit/Lord of the Rings series, I read a TON of Animorphs and Goosebumps books, I read just about anything and everything I could find either at home or at the school library.
Aside from the constant reading, I decided to try and write something, my own little story, so I got this electronic typewriter (we still own it, btw), and I tried my hand at writing.
...it did NOT go well at ALL, let me tell you!
But years later, around my high school years, I was again hit with boredom (and again, I was going through a difficult time with something new), so I took to writing fanfiction. I met a lot of people and I somehow managed to gain a lot of followers and fans that, to this day still add my old material to their faves list, and it just snowballed from there.
My family played a huge part in my writing. My oldest sister sent me a notice to a short story contest that I tried out - didn't win - and I know I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for my dad's punishment to me back then in 5th Grade.
I STILL think he overdid it to this day, but I know he did it because he loved me and it started me on the path that I'm on right now.
I wouldn't be here doing this if it weren't for my father.
I got my big start writing fanfiction just out of high school for anime and other things that I loved, before turning to write REAL stories like the ones I have already, but I guess the REAL start of me writing anything at all was when I was a kid in Texas.
In the 5th grade, I had developed a temper problem and I ended up hurting someone on the playground because of it. For that, my father grounded for 1 year: no TV, no video games, no computer, nothing electronic.
Yeah, I can just see or hear you guys right now thinking: "Yeah, right, a year? No way..."
WAY.
Like any other kid in the 90s, I was hooked on that stuff. When I couldn't do any of that, I had no choice but to start reading to keep myself from being bored. I learned about books like Tolkien's Hobbit/Lord of the Rings series, I read a TON of Animorphs and Goosebumps books, I read just about anything and everything I could find either at home or at the school library.
Aside from the constant reading, I decided to try and write something, my own little story, so I got this electronic typewriter (we still own it, btw), and I tried my hand at writing.
...it did NOT go well at ALL, let me tell you!
But years later, around my high school years, I was again hit with boredom (and again, I was going through a difficult time with something new), so I took to writing fanfiction. I met a lot of people and I somehow managed to gain a lot of followers and fans that, to this day still add my old material to their faves list, and it just snowballed from there.
My family played a huge part in my writing. My oldest sister sent me a notice to a short story contest that I tried out - didn't win - and I know I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for my dad's punishment to me back then in 5th Grade.
I STILL think he overdid it to this day, but I know he did it because he loved me and it started me on the path that I'm on right now.
I wouldn't be here doing this if it weren't for my father.
Brian Berg
Being a GOD with complete and total power over the worlds you create and the people that dwell in them! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
No, heh, in all seriousness, um...well, it's hard to say, really. It's different for different people. For me, personally? I get to tell stories about people that I made up in my head. I get to show people fantastic and awesome worlds that I reached out and plucked from the stars. Or, when I really, really, REALLY need to do it, I channel the worst emotions I have in me at the time - you know, anger, fear, sadness, envy, whatever - and pull them out of myself and put them to paper. I can turn those emotions into either nightmarish monsters or villains to scare people with, or I can put those same feelings into one of my characters and make them more three-dimensional,whether it's just for a single scene, or for the entire story overall.
I get to create things and I protect myself from the bad things in my life. I use writing as a tool for creativity and for therapy. It's given me a purpose, it's given me a great deal of friends over the years, and it's saved my life more than once.
No, heh, in all seriousness, um...well, it's hard to say, really. It's different for different people. For me, personally? I get to tell stories about people that I made up in my head. I get to show people fantastic and awesome worlds that I reached out and plucked from the stars. Or, when I really, really, REALLY need to do it, I channel the worst emotions I have in me at the time - you know, anger, fear, sadness, envy, whatever - and pull them out of myself and put them to paper. I can turn those emotions into either nightmarish monsters or villains to scare people with, or I can put those same feelings into one of my characters and make them more three-dimensional,whether it's just for a single scene, or for the entire story overall.
I get to create things and I protect myself from the bad things in my life. I use writing as a tool for creativity and for therapy. It's given me a purpose, it's given me a great deal of friends over the years, and it's saved my life more than once.
Brian Berg
I got a few bits of advice, really. The first is something I learned years ago from my inspiration and favorite author, Stephen King.
1) Read and write. Like, a LOT. I'm not saying entire books or chapters all day, but just enough to keep your mind sharp.
2) Don't be afraid to try something NEW! If you got an idea, but you aren't sure about it or you're afraid someone's gonna call you out on it, f*ck the paranoia and just write it out. If it fits for you, then wonderful! If not and you choose to erase it, that's fine. That's all part of the writing process.
3) RELAX!!! Look, at some point, you're gonna worry about writing something out in a specific span of time, or you're gonna worry about your stuff looking like a knock off of another person's story. That's fine, it happens to everyone at some point. It just motivates you to make it better. Believe me when I say that if you stress yourself out, the only thing you're gonna accomplish is inducing a case of depression. This isn't a race, boys and girls, everyone writes at their own pace and publishes in their own time. When the time is right, you'll know.
4) Have FUN! People write for different reasons. Some do it for money, some do it as therapy for whatever they have going on in their heads (something I know a bit about, trust me XD ), and some just do it because they have a story to tell. Writing doesn't just HAVE to be a career choice. Whatever your reason is for writing, just try to have at least a LITTLE bit of fun with it as you go. It'll do wonders for you.
5) Don't be afraid to share your work with friends or family for feedback. You're gonna need that feedback to see if you need to work on something in your story or to get a feel of what future readers will think of your story. I know you're shy to show, I'm the same way and I've been working on that for years now, but I've gone from showing 1 person my material to showing like 5 different people and it has been a HUUUUUUUUGE benefit for me. You may or may not agree with what they have to say, but take it with a grain of salt and don't shrug them off. They might just have something that makes sense, even if you don't want to change what you've written. Sometimes, the quality of ideas fade with time and new things can make stories even better.
1) Read and write. Like, a LOT. I'm not saying entire books or chapters all day, but just enough to keep your mind sharp.
2) Don't be afraid to try something NEW! If you got an idea, but you aren't sure about it or you're afraid someone's gonna call you out on it, f*ck the paranoia and just write it out. If it fits for you, then wonderful! If not and you choose to erase it, that's fine. That's all part of the writing process.
3) RELAX!!! Look, at some point, you're gonna worry about writing something out in a specific span of time, or you're gonna worry about your stuff looking like a knock off of another person's story. That's fine, it happens to everyone at some point. It just motivates you to make it better. Believe me when I say that if you stress yourself out, the only thing you're gonna accomplish is inducing a case of depression. This isn't a race, boys and girls, everyone writes at their own pace and publishes in their own time. When the time is right, you'll know.
4) Have FUN! People write for different reasons. Some do it for money, some do it as therapy for whatever they have going on in their heads (something I know a bit about, trust me XD ), and some just do it because they have a story to tell. Writing doesn't just HAVE to be a career choice. Whatever your reason is for writing, just try to have at least a LITTLE bit of fun with it as you go. It'll do wonders for you.
5) Don't be afraid to share your work with friends or family for feedback. You're gonna need that feedback to see if you need to work on something in your story or to get a feel of what future readers will think of your story. I know you're shy to show, I'm the same way and I've been working on that for years now, but I've gone from showing 1 person my material to showing like 5 different people and it has been a HUUUUUUUUGE benefit for me. You may or may not agree with what they have to say, but take it with a grain of salt and don't shrug them off. They might just have something that makes sense, even if you don't want to change what you've written. Sometimes, the quality of ideas fade with time and new things can make stories even better.
Brian Berg
It depends on how bad of a case of writer's block I suffer. If it's with one story, I just move onto another project that I have on my to do list and I work with that. If THAT doesn't work, i move to the next, and if I can't do ANYTHING...
Well, I just leave the stories for themselves and I find a way to relax or keep my mind busy so I don't go crazy. I watch TV (I love anime), I watch one of my many movies, or I pick up a book I haven't finished yet, see if I can get a boost of creativity from one of my favorite authors, or I just chill out, sit back and play some video games.
Although, I won't lie, sometimes I just don't do anything but do something extremely routine and all of sudden - BAM! - inspiration hits me and I'm racing back to my computer to get going again.
Well, I just leave the stories for themselves and I find a way to relax or keep my mind busy so I don't go crazy. I watch TV (I love anime), I watch one of my many movies, or I pick up a book I haven't finished yet, see if I can get a boost of creativity from one of my favorite authors, or I just chill out, sit back and play some video games.
Although, I won't lie, sometimes I just don't do anything but do something extremely routine and all of sudden - BAM! - inspiration hits me and I'm racing back to my computer to get going again.
Brian Berg
I am currently polishing a fantasy novel I've been writing for over 10 years and preparing it for serialization on my Amazon Kindle. The book itself is called "Dragon's Treasure" and the first installment will be called "The Azure Throne".
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