Ask the Author: Robert Michael
Answered Questions (7)
Robert Michael
Well, you might. I was born and raised in Weston. Went to Kitsonville Elementary until 4th Grade, Central Elementary until Middle School (We called it Junior High back then), and then finished at Lewis County High School. Loved Chem II, French with Madam LaFontaine, and Computer Programming with Mr. Williams. Played on the football team (bench mostly) my sophomore and junior years. Hung out with the nerds and proud of it. My parents still live there. My father is retiring from Wal-Mart July 1 when he turns 72!
I've always wanted to be a writer and if you saw me in the hall, I was probably carrying a book because I LOVE to read.
I've always wanted to be a writer and if you saw me in the hall, I was probably carrying a book because I LOVE to read.
Robert Michael
Not my most recent, but for Cry Me a River, my idea was germinated by an idea for a character who had a strange occupation. I researched odd careers and came up with "remains relocation specialist." These are people that move the remains of the deceased (usually a container with ashes) to remote locations. They are responsible for the transport, chronicling any rituals for the family, and organizing any required personnel like a priest, photographer, or speaker.
I wondered what kind of person would take on such a career. I also wondered what kind of conflict would await someone who had to go to a remote location in a violent country. That's when I imagined my main character, Claire. I imagined that she was troubled by the death of her mother when she was a child, and her father's sadness and anger at his loss. Her career becomes a way that she denies herself emotionally, sort of an ironic twist. Then, when she takes the ashes of a woman back to her home in Colombia, Claire becomes involved with an attractive photographer and guide who has a secret past that comes back to haunt them both.
I wondered what kind of person would take on such a career. I also wondered what kind of conflict would await someone who had to go to a remote location in a violent country. That's when I imagined my main character, Claire. I imagined that she was troubled by the death of her mother when she was a child, and her father's sadness and anger at his loss. Her career becomes a way that she denies herself emotionally, sort of an ironic twist. Then, when she takes the ashes of a woman back to her home in Colombia, Claire becomes involved with an attractive photographer and guide who has a secret past that comes back to haunt them both.
Robert Michael
Living life. Loving to read. Listening to music. Viewing art. Watching children play, a wife hold her husband's hand, a bird land on a wire, a fish flit into the shallow end of a pool, the wind blow dandelion seeds through a field. Listen to the creak of a tree in a breeze, the call of a frog, the commotion of vehicles on a busy road.
Just experiencing life is what gets me motivated to write, inspired to put my imagination into motion. I don't see stories as plots to be unfolded as much as I see lives intertwined. Its about characters, what happens to them and how they react. I'm inspired more by the characters than by the plots. Other writers love the idea of "what if?" or "what happens when?"
Just experiencing life is what gets me motivated to write, inspired to put my imagination into motion. I don't see stories as plots to be unfolded as much as I see lives intertwined. Its about characters, what happens to them and how they react. I'm inspired more by the characters than by the plots. Other writers love the idea of "what if?" or "what happens when?"
Robert Michael
Multiple projects, actually. I am working through the sequel to my first novel, Dark Mountain. It is called Lonely Creatures. Luke and Molly make a return, so I am excited. Where the first book is dark and gritty and real, this one takes a turn more toward the supernatural.
The other project I'm working on is a Christian devotional about transformation: how to handle the struggles and strife of our lives in view of our spiritual growth.
I also have a new fantasy planned for early 2017 that I will be working on during NaNoWriMo. I encourage aspiring writers to check out the challenge of writing 50,000 words in November through National Novel Writing Month. It was how I finished the first draft of Dark Mountain. It's a great motivator to put your butt in a seat and just write.
The other project I'm working on is a Christian devotional about transformation: how to handle the struggles and strife of our lives in view of our spiritual growth.
I also have a new fantasy planned for early 2017 that I will be working on during NaNoWriMo. I encourage aspiring writers to check out the challenge of writing 50,000 words in November through National Novel Writing Month. It was how I finished the first draft of Dark Mountain. It's a great motivator to put your butt in a seat and just write.
Robert Michael
1) Read books. Lots of them.
2) Don't write what you know. Write what you love. Write what your soul screams to release.
3) Find a constructive critique group. Then find a good place to get feedback from strangers. Wattpad is good place to start.
4) Write all the time. Practice makes permanent. Find your strengths and weakness in terms of your craft.
5) Seek out other writers in the community or on the internet. You will find a trove of resources that will help you get better, learn about craft, about market, about querying, about how to find an agent, how to build a platform, and all the other less sexy elements of being a writer.
6) Develop an inner editor. Give that editor a personality. Is he a stubborn fact-checker? Is she a grammarian first and foremost? Does she delve into the story looking for ways to improve the writing style or the story development? Edit with that personality, not your writer's brain. Be ruthless. Use the eyes of another to see your story from a different perspective.
2) Don't write what you know. Write what you love. Write what your soul screams to release.
3) Find a constructive critique group. Then find a good place to get feedback from strangers. Wattpad is good place to start.
4) Write all the time. Practice makes permanent. Find your strengths and weakness in terms of your craft.
5) Seek out other writers in the community or on the internet. You will find a trove of resources that will help you get better, learn about craft, about market, about querying, about how to find an agent, how to build a platform, and all the other less sexy elements of being a writer.
6) Develop an inner editor. Give that editor a personality. Is he a stubborn fact-checker? Is she a grammarian first and foremost? Does she delve into the story looking for ways to improve the writing style or the story development? Edit with that personality, not your writer's brain. Be ruthless. Use the eyes of another to see your story from a different perspective.
Robert Michael
I love reading what I've written. I love to read probably as much as I love the process of writing, so that is the best reward. That first read-through of the final draft is exhilarating.
Robert Michael
When I read the phrase "writer's block," I see that as possessive. I own the block. It is my responsibility. Although I believe in the creative muse, I also believe writing is a function of imagination. I am convinced that if my imagination is not working, then I am dead.
Overcoming writer's block, then, becomes a matter of unburdening the less imaginative side of my brain. It's not necessarily a function of finding a focus. It's more the opposite. I have to let go of the details of things that interfere with my connection to my imagination, my creative side.
I also feel that succumbing to writer's block is a way to shut down any mechanical constructions that may inhibit a true creative output. What I mean by that psychobabble is that sometimes when writers impose a word count, a firm outline, or any other device that "forces" production of words without a true conduit to the flow of the imagination, it can become more of a dam. Writer's block, then, can be a defensive mechanism, providing the writer with the warning signs he or she may need in order to make a correction. It can also be a sign of lack of desire to write, or just plain laziness. :)
One technique that I have found useful in overcoming writer's block is immersing myself in the consumption of creative products: music, books, movies, theater, art. Time spent being a consumer rather than a producer helps my mind connect better to the natural flow.
Overcoming writer's block, then, becomes a matter of unburdening the less imaginative side of my brain. It's not necessarily a function of finding a focus. It's more the opposite. I have to let go of the details of things that interfere with my connection to my imagination, my creative side.
I also feel that succumbing to writer's block is a way to shut down any mechanical constructions that may inhibit a true creative output. What I mean by that psychobabble is that sometimes when writers impose a word count, a firm outline, or any other device that "forces" production of words without a true conduit to the flow of the imagination, it can become more of a dam. Writer's block, then, can be a defensive mechanism, providing the writer with the warning signs he or she may need in order to make a correction. It can also be a sign of lack of desire to write, or just plain laziness. :)
One technique that I have found useful in overcoming writer's block is immersing myself in the consumption of creative products: music, books, movies, theater, art. Time spent being a consumer rather than a producer helps my mind connect better to the natural flow.
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