Ask the Author: Carl Purcell
Answered Questions (6)
Carl Purcell
The idea for Pilgrimage came about similarly to the idea for Sorceress' Blood. I took a common trope from the fantasy genre - in this case, a quest or journey over land - and imagined what it would look like in the modern world. The development from a generic "quest" to a pilgrimage happened because I am personally fascinated by the idea of a pilgrimage and the spiritual significance of that meshed well with the themes I wanted to write about. Plus, it has the word mage in it, so that's kind of clever.
Carl Purcell
A couple of Neo-Noir novellas
Carl Purcell
Like anybody - and not just writers - sometimes ideas just pop into my head. This isn't writer witchcraft. Everybody has ideas. I don't think anybody knows where those ideas come from, really, and it's not important.
The next step - and this is just a thing I learned to do - is I look at how those ideas can become stories. When I see the idea becoming a story that I like, I get excited and I start writing it.
Inspiration is 20% luck and 80% thought.
The next step - and this is just a thing I learned to do - is I look at how those ideas can become stories. When I see the idea becoming a story that I like, I get excited and I start writing it.
Inspiration is 20% luck and 80% thought.
Carl Purcell
1. Read
2. Write
3. Read about writing.
Writing is not a thing you are born with, it is a thing you learn to do. There are innumerable good books about the craft of creative writing and you should be reading them. This is just as important as reading good stories and seeing the theory in put in practice.
2. Write
3. Read about writing.
Writing is not a thing you are born with, it is a thing you learn to do. There are innumerable good books about the craft of creative writing and you should be reading them. This is just as important as reading good stories and seeing the theory in put in practice.
Carl Purcell
The satisfaction in knowing you've told a story that brought enjoyment into somebody's life.
Carl Purcell
I tell it its not real. This answer has earned me a lot of flack in the past, but hear me out. I refuse to accept that writer's block exists. There are times I write a lot, and times I write a lot less. There are times all I want to do is write and times where I just don't feel like writing.
But writer's block isn't an option for a professional writer. Sometimes the words just have to come and sometimes they'll do it willingly and sometimes they'll come kicking and screaming and trying to gut you with the pointy end of a V. Eventually the words fall in line, either way.
I don't allow writer's block to be a part of my world. Like the Goblin King, it has no power over me as long as I don't give it that power.
But writer's block isn't an option for a professional writer. Sometimes the words just have to come and sometimes they'll do it willingly and sometimes they'll come kicking and screaming and trying to gut you with the pointy end of a V. Eventually the words fall in line, either way.
I don't allow writer's block to be a part of my world. Like the Goblin King, it has no power over me as long as I don't give it that power.
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