Ask the Author: Keith W. Willis
Answered Questions (3)
Keith W. Willis
I'm currently trying to work out the 3rd book in the Knights of Kilbourne series, tentatively titled Enchanted Knight. It's a continuation, with the main focus being on Morgan and Marissa. However, readers will meet some new characters, including the redoubtable Lady Sybil McRobbie (Morgan's mother); Capt. Tobias Albert Fanshawe, gentleman pirate; and Augustus Rhenn, Headmaster of St. Giles Academy of Magic. In addition, we'll get a much more in depth look at dragon society, courtesy of Wyvrndell; and see return appearances by both Capt. Aartis Poldane and a villain whom I can't name at the moment (this is a spoiler-free post and I don't want to give the game away). But no, it's likely not who you think... :)
I've got a lot of balls to juggle in this story, and I'm finding that I may have to actually abandon my normal (seat-of-the-pants) writing method and instead actually resort to doing some plotting for this story. I have some great scenes, including the big climactic scene, already written, so now it's just a matter of putting them together in a coherent fashion and filling in all the holes.
I've got a lot of balls to juggle in this story, and I'm finding that I may have to actually abandon my normal (seat-of-the-pants) writing method and instead actually resort to doing some plotting for this story. I have some great scenes, including the big climactic scene, already written, so now it's just a matter of putting them together in a coherent fashion and filling in all the holes.
Keith W. Willis
Too many to choose from! But I think I'll have to go with Amelia Peabody and Radcliffe Emerson, from Elizabeth Peters' fabulous series of archaeology-based mysteries.
Keith W. Willis
First: Read, Write, Read, Write, rinse and repeat. Then do it all some more. Read both in and out of your genre. Write out of your genre on occasion. Stretch yourself, test your limits.
Second: When you've finished that first draft, wiped away both the sweat and the tears and danced the happy dance--put it away. Maybe two weeks, maybe a month. Then pull it back out and read through the entire thing--don't skim, even though you know what it says--with an agent's eye. Don't just say 'Huzzah, it's done' and start querying. First drafts, with rare exceptions, are awful. Reread, revise, refine. If you query your dream agent too soon (as I did) you lose that opportunity. Make sure it's GOOD before you send it out.
Third: Your work will be rejected. Deal with it. If you can't, you're in the wrong line of endeavor. Rejection doesn't mean YOU personally have been rejected. It doesn't mean your work is awful. It just means it didn't resonate with that particular person you queried. If you get feedback, evaluate it for applicability and incorporate it into your revisions if you feel it helps. Feedback is not always helpful--you need to stay true to your vision of the story, not someone else's vision.
Fourth: Find a community. Writing is, generally speaking, a pretty solitary endeavor. But there are millions of other writers out there, all starving for community as well. Twitter and Facebook are great ways to meet up, make friends, and develop a support network that will support, encourage and commiserate with you. But it's a two-way street--make sure you're doing some of that same supporting, encouraging and commiserating for the other folks in your new circle of awesome friends.
Fifth and Finally: Enjoy the ride. If you don't enjoy what you're doing, why do it? Yeah, it's often a tough, tedious, terrible way to spend your time. But the reward of having someone read your words and be moved to smiles or tears or joy or anger by them is an incredible feeling. Exult that you have that story in you, desperately seeking a way onto the page, and that you DO have the skill and fortitude and vision to make it happen.
Second: When you've finished that first draft, wiped away both the sweat and the tears and danced the happy dance--put it away. Maybe two weeks, maybe a month. Then pull it back out and read through the entire thing--don't skim, even though you know what it says--with an agent's eye. Don't just say 'Huzzah, it's done' and start querying. First drafts, with rare exceptions, are awful. Reread, revise, refine. If you query your dream agent too soon (as I did) you lose that opportunity. Make sure it's GOOD before you send it out.
Third: Your work will be rejected. Deal with it. If you can't, you're in the wrong line of endeavor. Rejection doesn't mean YOU personally have been rejected. It doesn't mean your work is awful. It just means it didn't resonate with that particular person you queried. If you get feedback, evaluate it for applicability and incorporate it into your revisions if you feel it helps. Feedback is not always helpful--you need to stay true to your vision of the story, not someone else's vision.
Fourth: Find a community. Writing is, generally speaking, a pretty solitary endeavor. But there are millions of other writers out there, all starving for community as well. Twitter and Facebook are great ways to meet up, make friends, and develop a support network that will support, encourage and commiserate with you. But it's a two-way street--make sure you're doing some of that same supporting, encouraging and commiserating for the other folks in your new circle of awesome friends.
Fifth and Finally: Enjoy the ride. If you don't enjoy what you're doing, why do it? Yeah, it's often a tough, tedious, terrible way to spend your time. But the reward of having someone read your words and be moved to smiles or tears or joy or anger by them is an incredible feeling. Exult that you have that story in you, desperately seeking a way onto the page, and that you DO have the skill and fortitude and vision to make it happen.
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