Ask the Author: Chad Prevost
Answered Questions (4)
Chad Prevost
Leonard Elmore's no-nonsense answer to this question is one of my all-time favorites: "I don't believe in writer's block or waiting for inspiration. If you're a writer, you sit down and write."
As a professional writer, you really should generally move beyond being blocked. If you're out of ideas, pursue them by reading books.
No doubt, however, not everyone is as tough-minded and disciplined as Elmore. Starting a project is the hardest time for me, the time I'm most likely to distract myself or get frustrated or research too much (and then get distracted in the research), etc. Every so often maybe your intuition is trying to tell you something, and if you meditate and listen and maybe even write about what's holding you up, you can break through the block. Write your way through it. As Frost says, "The only way out is through."
As a professional writer, you really should generally move beyond being blocked. If you're out of ideas, pursue them by reading books.
No doubt, however, not everyone is as tough-minded and disciplined as Elmore. Starting a project is the hardest time for me, the time I'm most likely to distract myself or get frustrated or research too much (and then get distracted in the research), etc. Every so often maybe your intuition is trying to tell you something, and if you meditate and listen and maybe even write about what's holding you up, you can break through the block. Write your way through it. As Frost says, "The only way out is through."
Chad Prevost
Ask yourself who you are writing for. If it's just yourself, that's fine and therapeutic, and depending on circumstances and ambition and how much you read, you can even get quite good at it. But if it's an audience you're after, then you should think about writing for them.
Chad Prevost
I don't specifically seek out inspiration, but when this question is asked, I sometimes wonder if it's not more about creating the best conditions in order to write well, or for sustained amounts of productive time. When I was in my late teens and early 20s, I helped create the right conditions by playing instrumental piano or guitar music, and with a fresh cup of coffee first thing in the morning, usually after reading some poetry (and poetry was what I was generally writing). In the end, however, if writing ultimately reflects the consciousness and thinking behind the author/writer, then you'll be most inspired by outstanding and moving ideas. Thus, fill up your tank and read.
Chad Prevost
I got some of the idea for RETROGRADE after I noticed my then 13-year-old son read READY PLAYER 1 three times straight. I can't remember what the entire plot is about, but what stuck with me was the obsessive 1980s trivia that permeates the story. RETROGRADE also was the second book that I wrote for Game Time Books, and at the time I was moving in the opposite direction of literary writing. I wanted to write interactive fiction that entertained--and that means genre fiction, fiction that has pre-established norms and conventions and audiences. Not only did I want to write in genres, but I wanted to revel in them, maximize them. So, RETROGRADE is a time-travel piece in which you're leaping in an virtual reality game set in 2084 all the way back to 1984. There you are trying to crack the code of the game's maker, Mythic Mayhem, who wants you to improve upon his favorite year in some way--and otherwise you'll be stuck in 1984 without end. So, we've got some science fiction elements, some fantasy, some action-adventure, and pop cultural characters from the 80s such as G.I. Joe, Darth Vader, David Lee Roth, President Ronald Reagan, Indira Gandhi, Oprah, and a Superbowl featuring characters from the Raiders and Redskins.
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