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Patrick Swenson

Goodreads Author

Born

Pullman, WA, The United States

Website

http://www.patrickswenson.net

Twitter

patrick_swenson

Genre

Science Fiction, Fantasy

Member Since

August 2013

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Patrick is a writer, publisher, editor, and teacher. His first novel is entitled The Ultra Thin Man, forthcoming from Tor in 2014. He has sold stories to the anthology Like Water for Quarks, and magazines such as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine, Figment, and others.

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Popular Answered Questions

How many drafts does it take you to get to a final version? What do you start with, and what do you go back and add/remove during the revision process? (E.g. Connie Willis starts with dialogue, then goes back and does blocking, then exposition, etc.)

Patrick Swenson When all is said and done, I'd say about three drafts went by before my editor saw The Ultra Thin Man. Of course, he had an editorial letter for me to…moreWhen all is said and done, I'd say about three drafts went by before my editor saw The Ultra Thin Man. Of course, he had an editorial letter for me to respond to as well. Count that as a 4th draft. I tend to go back and do some minor editing as I'm going through the first draft.

As for what I start with, in the case of The Ultra Thin Man, I started with just the title. Intriguing, thought I. Wonder what it means? I very loosely put together a couple of detective-like characters and threw them into a bunch of hot water early on and told them, "There. Figure it out for me." Much of this is due to my refusal (thus far) to outline, preferring to write organically, or by the seat of my pants (a "pantser" is the new term floating out there).

I am an add-in kind of writer. Like Connie, I do tend to do a lot of dialogue up front and fill in later, although I do block scenes out as I go. Later drafts add on to the worldbuilding and give more futuristic detail as needed. Shore up characters. And since there's a mystery element, I have to go back and add hints and bits to make sure everything's adding up correctly. (less)

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What's your usual writing schedule? Do you write a certain word count every day or just whatever the muse tells you?

Patrick Swenson I don't write a certain word count every day. I feel good when I have anything over a thousand words in.

My writing schedule, due to a full time teach…moreI don't write a certain word count every day. I feel good when I have anything over a thousand words in.

My writing schedule, due to a full time teaching job, varies from day to day. Now, during the summer, when I'm not teaching, I get a lot more writing in. I'm a night owl, so I automatically revert to those "to bed at 3 a.m." and "up at 11:00 a.m." hours. So when I start writing it tends to be later in the afternoon, sometimes late evening.

During the school year, it's awfully tough to get hours in to write. To finish THE ULTRA THIN MAN, I used my planning period at school to write, and saved all my school planning for after school, before school, even weekends, which was difficult. But it worked, and I had those same 50 minutes every work day to write. I wrote the last 75,000 words in 4 months!(less)

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Combine Editions
Patrick Swenson’s books

Average rating: 3.91 · 1,059 ratings · 213 reviews · 17 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Ultra Thin Man (Worlds of the Union #1) 3.30 avg rating — 200 ratings — published 2014 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Ultra Big Sleep (Worlds of the Union #2) 4.09 avg rating — 11 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Imagination Fully Dilated: Science Fiction by Patrick Swenson (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Robert Kruger (Editor), Nancy Jane Moore (Goodreads Author) (contributor) 4.30 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2003 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Best of Talebones by Patrick Swenson (Goodreads Author) (Editor), James Van Pelt (Goodreads Author), Brennan Marcher 3.80 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2010 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Slightly Ruby 4.13 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2016 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Rain Music 3.83 avg rating — 6 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Ultra Long Goodbye (Worlds of the Union #3) 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Talebones: A Magazine of Science Fiction & Dark Fantasy #26 (Summer 2003) by Patrick & Honna (eds.); 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Talebones: A Magazine of Science Fiction & Dark Fantasy #23 (Winter 2001) by Patrick & Honna (eds.); 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Talebones: A Magazine of Science Fiction & Dark Fantasy #4 (Summer 1996) by Patrick & Honna (eds.); 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars