Ask the Author: Matt Galeone
Answered Questions (4)
Matt Galeone
I struggle with this question. I have a difficult relationship with advice in general. I have no reason to believe that what works for me would work for you. I don’t necessarily think that what works for someone else will work for me. I am happy to offer and accept advice when it’s asked for, but I think it’s odd when it’s offered unsolicited. Always have.
What do you always hear? Writers should write and writers should read? Well, sure. I don’t disagree with that, but I’m not so sure it’s that useful either. It’s sort of like advising someone to eat, sleep, or brush their teeth. Seems like something we already know.
So, what works for me is planning, planning, and planning. I plan out everything that is going to happen… in about 80-90% of my book. They rest is room I leave for little surprises. Many of my favorite scenes, and even a few favorite characters, have come from those surprises. Now, while the surprises are great, don’t forget about the 80-90% planning that I do first. For me, writing is deliberate and step-by-by. I think there is a romantic notion that a writer sits down and lets the words flow forth. That doesn’t usually happen in my experience. Writing is more like sloughing through mud to force rather than frolicking through a field. Outlines, notes, even spreadsheets that meticulously map out each step in the storyline, each nuance in a character’s development… that what makes a good story and that’s a lot of hard and tedious work.
I also think it’s helpful to consider your goal. If your goal is to be a writer, it would seem to me like your target is pretty broad. Tough to know if you ever really hit it. Even tougher to put together a plan to accomplish something so vague. I like to focus less on ‘being a writer’ and more about telling a specific story. I work with a lot of writers and the experience they have once they find their story is so different then when they are just trying to be a writer and are therefore just forcing a story. The story comes first and that makes you a writer. If you tell a story just to be a writer, it seems like you’ve made your story (and your readers) secondary. I don’t think that works. Figuring out the story you want to tell, I think, is far more important than deciding that you want to be writer.
Finally, my last bit of advice would be to freely ignore advice. Figure what you want to do and decide the best path for you to do it. If you can find someone that has had experiences that seem similar to the experiences that you’d like to have, then by all means ask him or her about them. But, don’t let others tell you that their way is the only way or the best way for you. Figure that out for yourself. Or, feel free to completely ignore this advice.
What do you always hear? Writers should write and writers should read? Well, sure. I don’t disagree with that, but I’m not so sure it’s that useful either. It’s sort of like advising someone to eat, sleep, or brush their teeth. Seems like something we already know.
So, what works for me is planning, planning, and planning. I plan out everything that is going to happen… in about 80-90% of my book. They rest is room I leave for little surprises. Many of my favorite scenes, and even a few favorite characters, have come from those surprises. Now, while the surprises are great, don’t forget about the 80-90% planning that I do first. For me, writing is deliberate and step-by-by. I think there is a romantic notion that a writer sits down and lets the words flow forth. That doesn’t usually happen in my experience. Writing is more like sloughing through mud to force rather than frolicking through a field. Outlines, notes, even spreadsheets that meticulously map out each step in the storyline, each nuance in a character’s development… that what makes a good story and that’s a lot of hard and tedious work.
I also think it’s helpful to consider your goal. If your goal is to be a writer, it would seem to me like your target is pretty broad. Tough to know if you ever really hit it. Even tougher to put together a plan to accomplish something so vague. I like to focus less on ‘being a writer’ and more about telling a specific story. I work with a lot of writers and the experience they have once they find their story is so different then when they are just trying to be a writer and are therefore just forcing a story. The story comes first and that makes you a writer. If you tell a story just to be a writer, it seems like you’ve made your story (and your readers) secondary. I don’t think that works. Figuring out the story you want to tell, I think, is far more important than deciding that you want to be writer.
Finally, my last bit of advice would be to freely ignore advice. Figure what you want to do and decide the best path for you to do it. If you can find someone that has had experiences that seem similar to the experiences that you’d like to have, then by all means ask him or her about them. But, don’t let others tell you that their way is the only way or the best way for you. Figure that out for yourself. Or, feel free to completely ignore this advice.
Matt Galeone
I really like my characters. Years ago a few were based on people in my real life further and then influenced by characters in stories that I grew up with. As the characters in my books developed they started to depart from their original inspirations. The events of the story changed them. I supposed I started to inject more of myself into them, too. Over time they have gained their own identities, now existing apart from any initial antecedent. As they become more independent, I become more invested in my relationships with them. I like hanging out with them and writing is how I get to share time with them. For me, the best thing about writing is getting to be with my characters. Writing is how I get to watch them grow, struggle, persevere, succeed, fail, and be there for one another.
Matt Galeone
Right now I'm spending a lot of my 'writing time' doing almost no writing! I'm a single dad with a full-time day job. Writing time is limited (at least for now) and it's currently being used to prepare for the upcoming release of my 4th book The 15th Chair Book 1: The Journey! I'm very excited about this one. In many ways its unlike my 1st trilogy. It's more ambitious. It's more plot-driven. It's just bigger. I've wanted to write this since even before my 1st trilogy (The Champion of Clarendon Ditch) came out but I just wasn't sure I could pull it off. I'm very happy that I went for it and very proud of the outcome. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do.
Now, while I'm excited about the new book, and promoting it can be very fun, this week I actually started feeling the itch to get back to writing (or at least outlining and mapping out) my next book, The 15th Chair Book 2!
Now, while I'm excited about the new book, and promoting it can be very fun, this week I actually started feeling the itch to get back to writing (or at least outlining and mapping out) my next book, The 15th Chair Book 2!
Matt Galeone
I'm not sure that writer's block exists, or if it does exist then I think it just never really goes away. I've never really sat down to write and not felt at least a little blocked but I've also never really ever been unable to push through that block. I guess I do a few things to make 'pushing through' a little easier. First, before I ever writer anything I outline a lot. I map out not only a book, but an entire trilogy. I map out plots and character growth chapter by chapter, book by book. I try to leave room for unexpected surprises to occur as I tell a story (and many of my personal favorite moments in my books were unmapped surprises) but I like to outline as much as I can so that when I sit down to write I have options of what I write that day. I also reread and edit whatever I wrote the day before prior to writing anything new. That gets me in the mindset. Finally, when I'm working on a book, I'm thinking about it all the time. In the shower, on a jog, driving, doing yoga... whenever I can tune out a little I think about my characters. There are always in my head. I find that I tend to be chomping at the bit to get writing rather than feeling especially blocked.
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