Ask the Author: Colin Gee
Answered Questions (4)
Colin Gee
In the first instance, the act of having written. It is an achievement of which any author should be proud. Seeing the end result of a deep thought process, planning, research, and writing and production effort is something very special, and when readers takes time to comment favourably the boost is very real, as when unfavourable comment, properly put, can cause angst. Writing was something I always knew I could do, but simply didn't have the time to undertake properly. Now, in my advancing years, I can find sufficient hours to put my thoughts down. Another thing I find so rewarding is when readers invest in your fictitious characters. loving them or hating them as you have directed with your descriptions and actions. I find that really rewarding.
Colin Gee
Easy one. I say often, the only person stopping you from writing is you. Basically, that's it. Most of us have a passion or an interest, a past that merits examination or an imagination that works overtime. Use them and produce something in writing, if only for you in the first instance. I started writing just for me, and then found, through ebooks ease of publication, that the outside world actually enjoyed what I wrote, and was prepared to pay for it.
Stick at it. I don't hold with the idea of putting it to one side for another day. If you don't think that you are doing well, write another bit of the story, something different, but keep pushing forward and adding to the total. Achieving each little milestone is, in itself, like a drug or a kick up the backside, pushing you on to the next target.
I made the mistake of writing a mammoth first time around; 250k words or thereabouts. I was so proud, and edited it myself, placing it in the public domain too soon, and letting myself down badly. It is essential that you get your book edited properly. I have learned to see what is written, rather than what I thought I wrote, a trap I fell into early on in editing. Never worry about negative feedback at this time. Editing is the time to get it all sorted, and it will throw up all sorts of issues across the spectrum of errors.
Sorry my tips aren't in order, but, certainly in my genre of Alternate History, research is paramount. Not everyone will know that a certain bolt isn't 5/16ths but 1/4, but some blighter will, and his feedback may bring negativity on your book that you don't need or deserve. I have ploughed thousands of pounds of book revenues back into research, just to make sure that I get things just so.
If you think that there is something I might help you with, you can get me on facebook, the series website, or through Goodreads. Good luck to you.
Stick at it. I don't hold with the idea of putting it to one side for another day. If you don't think that you are doing well, write another bit of the story, something different, but keep pushing forward and adding to the total. Achieving each little milestone is, in itself, like a drug or a kick up the backside, pushing you on to the next target.
I made the mistake of writing a mammoth first time around; 250k words or thereabouts. I was so proud, and edited it myself, placing it in the public domain too soon, and letting myself down badly. It is essential that you get your book edited properly. I have learned to see what is written, rather than what I thought I wrote, a trap I fell into early on in editing. Never worry about negative feedback at this time. Editing is the time to get it all sorted, and it will throw up all sorts of issues across the spectrum of errors.
Sorry my tips aren't in order, but, certainly in my genre of Alternate History, research is paramount. Not everyone will know that a certain bolt isn't 5/16ths but 1/4, but some blighter will, and his feedback may bring negativity on your book that you don't need or deserve. I have ploughed thousands of pounds of book revenues back into research, just to make sure that I get things just so.
If you think that there is something I might help you with, you can get me on facebook, the series website, or through Goodreads. Good luck to you.
Colin Gee
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Colin Gee
Quite obviously, sometimes it's a devil of a thing to shift. I tend to look ahead and find something juicy in my plans, research the heck out of it and get myself excited at the prospect of writing about. Then I use that to kick start the existing process, telling myself that the only way I can do juicy bit 'B' is to fill blank page 'A' with meaningful words.
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