Ask the Author: D. Alexander Neill
Answered Questions (6)
D. Alexander Neill
I write something else. If I get stuck on the book I'm working on, I write something for the game (our ongoing D&D campaign). Or I write a poem, or a song. Or I work on the plot chart for the next book, or on a map, or something else. The solution to writer's block is more writing.
And if all else fails, I listen to a powerful movie soundtrack. Nothing kick-starts the mental motor like a thundering score. And even if that doesn't work, you still haven't wasted your time, because you've been listening to music.
And if all else fails, I listen to a powerful movie soundtrack. Nothing kick-starts the mental motor like a thundering score. And even if that doesn't work, you still haven't wasted your time, because you've been listening to music.
D. Alexander Neill
The best thing about being a writer is the satisfaction of reaching the end of story, and realizing that it's the one you hoped you could tell.
To paraphrase something Allymyn said in "Daughter of Dragons", writing is a little like magic: it isn't something we do; it's something we are.
Driven by the mad, wondrous pen of Alan Moore, Rorshach may have put it best in "Watchmen": "We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled."
To paraphrase something Allymyn said in "Daughter of Dragons", writing is a little like magic: it isn't something we do; it's something we are.
Driven by the mad, wondrous pen of Alan Moore, Rorshach may have put it best in "Watchmen": "We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled."
D. Alexander Neill
Write what interests you.
Write some more.
Write something else.
If you're having trouble with a tale, write a poem or a song. Write a sonnet. Write a ballad, a saga, or a filthy limerick.
Write characters as you see them in your mind, and in your heart.
Write your stories, not the ones others might want you to write.
And never stop writing.
Write some more.
Write something else.
If you're having trouble with a tale, write a poem or a song. Write a sonnet. Write a ballad, a saga, or a filthy limerick.
Write characters as you see them in your mind, and in your heart.
Write your stories, not the ones others might want you to write.
And never stop writing.
D. Alexander Neill
I've nearly finished editing the second book of the Hallow's Heart series. Book 2, "The Wizard's Eye", will be out shortly. And I've already begun writing Book 3, the working title for which is "Winter's Lady".
D. Alexander Neill
It can be anything - an image, a question, a situation, a song, a poem, an argument. The most common inspiration, though, is another tale.
D. Alexander Neill
I've been running a Dungeons & Dragons campaign with several friends for the past nine years. Every now and then, in the course of searching online for graphics to add realism to gameplay, I come across an image online that ignites a spark. That's what happened in this case; I found a picture of a character with a compelling look in their eyes. As a military historian by day, and a former soldier to boot, I'm far too familiar with what can happen to someone who's seen too much battle. The question the picture sparked in me was this: how far into darkness can a good person fall...and what would it take to come back into the light?
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