Ask the Author: John Boyko
Answered Questions (8)
John Boyko
Butch and Sundance in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". I dare anyone to watch the old movie and not fall in love with them and the power of friendship.
John Boyko
I get inspired to write by waking up at five every morning, pouring a tea, and snapping open my laptop. The inspiration for the ideas, on the other hand, comes from long runs down the trail, flanked by farmland on one side and the river on the other. That's where the ideas are jumbled and tossed about. If a writer waits until he/she feels inspired to write in order to write then not much writing will ever get done.
John Boyko
Writing is not something that involves sitting and waiting for the muse to find you. Writing is more like showing up at the mine, donning your helmet, and chipping the rocks for coal whether you feel like it or not. Somedays you get nothing but dirty. Other days you stumble on diamonds. But every day you enter the mine.
John Boyko
Hello Gregory,
Sorry that I have been tardy in my response. Thank you for your compliment. I'm up at 5:00 every morning and while taking my coffee I read news on my phone and tweet. By 5:30 I am at my computer and reading/researching/writing. I do this every day so that even on days where life, work, family and other important things are given the time they deserve I can be satisfied that I have put in my writing time - I've punched the clock. Research time is different and more dedicated and writing time sometimes involves full days. I also read voraciously for to write you must read. I hope this is helpful. Thanks for the question.
John
Sorry that I have been tardy in my response. Thank you for your compliment. I'm up at 5:00 every morning and while taking my coffee I read news on my phone and tweet. By 5:30 I am at my computer and reading/researching/writing. I do this every day so that even on days where life, work, family and other important things are given the time they deserve I can be satisfied that I have put in my writing time - I've punched the clock. Research time is different and more dedicated and writing time sometimes involves full days. I also read voraciously for to write you must read. I hope this is helpful. Thanks for the question.
John
John Boyko
Thanks for you comment and sorry for taking such an unforgivable amount of time to respond. History in schools is only as good as the teacher and fortunately there are a great number of good teachers out there that understand that memorizing names and dates of dead white guys just does not cut it anymore.
John Boyko
The best advice for aspiring writers is to write. Michael Jordan practiced his free throws. Bobby Orr practiced his skating. Why would a writer not write a blog, and stories, and columns, and letters (yes - letters!)? Write and then re-write and then re-write again and when it is perfect, re-write it again.
John Boyko
The best thing about being a writer is the beauty of a clear thought well expressed. My looking back at a well constructed sentence or paragraph must be akin to potter's emotion as she drawing a finished product from the kiln. It was created from nothing and there it is, perfect, or at least as perfect as my imperfect skills can make it. Something exists that did not exist before.
John Boyko
I am currently working on a book tentatively entitled: The Crossroads: Kennedy and the Canadians. It will explore the relationship that President Kennedy had with Canada and demonstrate that while Lester Pearson thought of Canada as a middle-power trying to be heard and John Diefenbaker sovereign state trying to be respected that JFK considered Canada a satellite state that should be obedient. I will be off to the Kennedy Library for more research in a few weeks.
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