Ask the Author: Spencer Johnson
Answered Questions (6)
Spencer Johnson
My next book. Chronicles of Den'dra has expanded beyond my initial scope and will have three or more instalments. The fact remains that I get wordy so my books usually classify as epic novels. The unfortunate side effect is that they take a fair amount of time to edit.
Spencer Johnson
Usualy, I don't do anything about it. If I run into a problem, I just leave off writing until it resolves itself. A day, two days or a week with it simmering on the back of the stove and it will have worked itself out and usually an idea for another couple chapters besides.
Spencer Johnson
A nightmare. I was being chased by people and I had no idea why. Even when it shifted into a lucid dream, I was still running through a varied landscape that became Den'dra. That dream morphed into a part of Skeln's story. The rest just grew from that.
Spencer Johnson
Oddly enough, dreams are one of my sources of inspiration. I don't dream often but when I do, I have lucid dreams. Dreams that start as normal dreams do, but dreams that I can control. I awake with a general idea and flashes of memory from the dream. After that, I try reconstructing the dream and often get ideas or new plot developments. It is actually how Chronicles of Den'dra came to exist. A nightmare that I gained control of. There are events and other characters that were modeled from dreams as well.
I also enjoy reading other author's works. I am a fan of the game of thrones series. Not so much of the Eragon series. I am currently reading the wheel of time series, not sure what to think as I am in the second book. It is a little slow with incongruent elements. Gypsies? Really? Or perhaps it is the wolves portrayed as highly intelligent telepaths. Melanie Rawn is another author that I like. I don't limit myself to written works. I watch almost any TV show that is science fiction or fantasy, within reason.
For the most part, I do what most writer strongly recommend not to do. I usually don't know what happens more than a sentence further on from what I am writing. It is as much an adventure for me as any reader. I know where I want to be, however the trail between A and B is uncovered an inch at a time.
I also enjoy reading other author's works. I am a fan of the game of thrones series. Not so much of the Eragon series. I am currently reading the wheel of time series, not sure what to think as I am in the second book. It is a little slow with incongruent elements. Gypsies? Really? Or perhaps it is the wolves portrayed as highly intelligent telepaths. Melanie Rawn is another author that I like. I don't limit myself to written works. I watch almost any TV show that is science fiction or fantasy, within reason.
For the most part, I do what most writer strongly recommend not to do. I usually don't know what happens more than a sentence further on from what I am writing. It is as much an adventure for me as any reader. I know where I want to be, however the trail between A and B is uncovered an inch at a time.
Spencer Johnson
Don't quit your day job. That would be the primary piece of advice. The secondary piece would be to do your best. Stop thinking that you have a small target audiance and that you have to write a certain way or your book won't sell.
Editors are good but my last book would have cost me around 2500$ to get basic copy editing done. Curse me wordiness. I find it difficult to consider that when it is a book that might conceivably make that much in my life. My final advice would be to make sure that you have uncovered each error if you do your own editing. A five star review mentioning a couple grammatical errors will dry up sales as much as a single star rating. Two weeks without a single sale. Gave away more than a hundred in that time, but not one sale.
Enough about me, write for the pure enjoyment of writing if for no other reason.
Editors are good but my last book would have cost me around 2500$ to get basic copy editing done. Curse me wordiness. I find it difficult to consider that when it is a book that might conceivably make that much in my life. My final advice would be to make sure that you have uncovered each error if you do your own editing. A five star review mentioning a couple grammatical errors will dry up sales as much as a single star rating. Two weeks without a single sale. Gave away more than a hundred in that time, but not one sale.
Enough about me, write for the pure enjoyment of writing if for no other reason.
Spencer Johnson
The best thing about being a writer? For me, it is that total immersion in another world. While I am writing, nothing else exists. I see every scene that I describe, eavesdrop on every conversation unless I am the one speaking. I am the flie on the wall, watching my villain with a disgusted curl to my lips. When battles errupt around my heroes, I am fighting at their sides. When I write of a character's death, there are tears in my eyes. I am not ashamed to admit the fact. There is a certain sadness that comes from crafting a person from an idea, giving them life and getting to know them before mercilessly killing them. It is within my power to save them, rewrite a couple paragraphs, cull a chapter or two, change their destiny. To do so would only doom another to a similar fate.
If I don't like how something has turned out, I can simply re-emagine it. I enjoy slipping into the shoes of my characters, seeing the work from their eyes. When I finish a book, I look back and remember the story with as much, if not more clarity than the last couple years of my life. Writing is a means of expressing myself that I find difficult through any other medium. More than that, it is an escape to an island of solitude where nothing is impossible.
If I don't like how something has turned out, I can simply re-emagine it. I enjoy slipping into the shoes of my characters, seeing the work from their eyes. When I finish a book, I look back and remember the story with as much, if not more clarity than the last couple years of my life. Writing is a means of expressing myself that I find difficult through any other medium. More than that, it is an escape to an island of solitude where nothing is impossible.
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