Ask the Author: Christopher Lynn Carter
Answered Questions (4)
Christopher Lynn Carter
If you’re aspiring and have not written anything, or much, I would get a copy of Stephen King’s book, On Writing. It will save you a lot of time and frustration, well, time anyway. Writing is frustrating in numerous ways even with a sufficiently supplied “toolbox.”
Never forget that when you’re telling a story, one of your main goals is, in the mind of your reader, to make the words disappear behind the experience. As a songwriter in Nashville, we do very much the same thing but we have to do it in 16 lines and with a fixed or almost fixed syllable count. It is not an easy job. The greatest goal is to “take the listener somewhere.” I believe it was George Harrison who said that.
The above book recommendation will take care of much of the rest, style, pace, vocabulary, and self-criticism to name a few. Beyond that, write down your ideas. I am a structured/discovery author; therefore I start a synopsis for every strong breath of inspiration I receive. Most never pan out but you never know. Then write a lot. You have to practice, practice, practice.
Never forget that when you’re telling a story, one of your main goals is, in the mind of your reader, to make the words disappear behind the experience. As a songwriter in Nashville, we do very much the same thing but we have to do it in 16 lines and with a fixed or almost fixed syllable count. It is not an easy job. The greatest goal is to “take the listener somewhere.” I believe it was George Harrison who said that.
The above book recommendation will take care of much of the rest, style, pace, vocabulary, and self-criticism to name a few. Beyond that, write down your ideas. I am a structured/discovery author; therefore I start a synopsis for every strong breath of inspiration I receive. Most never pan out but you never know. Then write a lot. You have to practice, practice, practice.
Christopher Lynn Carter
Observation. People are intrigued by a story, containing situations and circumstances with which they identify. The best source of those is observing other people in real life. Both consciously and subconsciously, the predicaments of others speak to us. Communication takes place on many levels and not just verbal. We maintain an internal dialogue, a technique learned from infancy, as we observe the world around us. It flows from our own need and desire. It becomes so natural; we forget it’s there. Most of us are kinetic learners, we learn by doing. Therefore observing the truth is its own inspiration, even when (or especially when) it’s ugly.
Take notes, start a synopsis. It may or may not pan out. Follow the trail wherever it leads. I have many incomplete synopses. Writing may never begin on most them. However, you only need one good one, and that is worth a year of writing.
Take notes, start a synopsis. It may or may not pan out. Follow the trail wherever it leads. I have many incomplete synopses. Writing may never begin on most them. However, you only need one good one, and that is worth a year of writing.
Christopher Lynn Carter
My next title is, The Autumn List. It’s on the schedule for the fall of ’22. Writing should begin then and proceed through the winter. For some reason I write better when it’s cold outside, which makes the coffee taste better. I don’t want to say too much about the book, but I will say I have a full synopsis and cast of characters written (i.e. Beatrice Feathers, Amelda Gluck and Peleg Folger to name a few), and of which I’ve spent 20 years, off and on developing. It’s a story of risk and regret. I’ve not had the time to write until recently and wanted to wait till I could start and write all the way to the finish without interruptions. I did FOREVER in 8 months. Hopefully, I can write The Autumn List in less than a year as well.
Christopher Lynn Carter
The idea came from a personal question I’ve long had regarding generally accepted end time beliefs. It is a “much hyped” subject, and the target of so many books, I can’t even begin to count. While so many of these books are fiction (like my last book, FOREVER), my goal was to return to the beginning of the authoritative texts we have (i.e. the Bible and Falvis Josephus) and start from there. Eschatology (study of the end times) does not have to be spooky or complicated, and it’s not when rightly studied and conveyed. It’s actually straight forward and victorious. FOREVER, takes this track and tells much of that story, without the doom and gloom, for much of mankind at least. The book will lift you up, as it should.
It's an adventure, suspense fiction, set in our future, with angels and demons, where worlds collide, pretty much like Rev. 20:1-3.
It's an adventure, suspense fiction, set in our future, with angels and demons, where worlds collide, pretty much like Rev. 20:1-3.
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