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William E. Simpson

Goodreads Author

Website

https://www.authorsguild.net/services/members/340

Twitter

DSnovel

Genre

Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Young Adult

Member Since

February 2013

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/william_e_simpson

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Popular Answered Questions

How do you deal with writer’s block?

William E. Simpson It's quite likely that what works for one person may not work for another, we are all individuals... That said, I find that dumping the distractions i…moreIt's quite likely that what works for one person may not work for another, we are all individuals... That said, I find that dumping the distractions is key... there is way too much 'white noise' in our society today... and it does affect everyone to some degree or another. Some of my best ideas come to me when I'm on the top of a mountain or on a night watch alone in the middle of the ocean. (less)

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What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

William E. Simpson My advice for aspiring writers is to start by reading what best selling author Ryan Holiday had to say on the subject in his article titled: 'So You W…moreMy advice for aspiring writers is to start by reading what best selling author Ryan Holiday had to say on the subject in his article titled: 'So You Want To Be A Writer? That’s Mistake #1' ... here is the link

http://ryanholiday.net/so-you-want-to...

Second to that, if you're still compelled to write driven by a passion and a story that is bursting out of you, and not by some expectation in life related to being an 'author', you should give it your best shot and let the chips fall where they may. Who knows, maybe you'll be as successful as Ryan or?
For me, the opportunity to do a little writing came by happenstance. A National Geographic casting producer read an online article I wrote and that led to a TV show, which then led to my first book deal with Ulysses Press for the 'Nautical Prepper'. That sorta peaked my interest... getting a check to 'go write' a book. The following book (Dark Stallions - Legend of the Centaurians), which dealt with a totally different genre (YA Fantasy), was the result of an experience I had in the wilderness with wild horses... and that seed, that experience, germinated into a passion to tell a story...

https://www.newswire.com/news/bizarre...

Dark Stallions - Legend of the Centaurians was a story that I felt I was ill equipped to write as an indie author. I have to say here that having a publisher on the first go-round made launching into a writing enterprise easy by comparison to doing a book indie style. When you have a publisher the advantages are many... including editorial support that is unbiased, and who are not trying to make a living by selling their advice. They just want the book to be the best that it can be, since it will become part of their catalog. Indie authors are now the new fodder for writers turned salespeople. In many cases, these are authors who failed to make a living writing themselves, so now they are selling all kinds of services to unsuspecting aspiring writers using shiny websites full of claims and advice. But when you dig past the shiny cover material and ask the hard questions, like 'show me your actual experience and financial success writing', they have none to show. In some cases these advisors have books that have books ranking in the millions on Amazon... not exactly what anyone would label as a bell-ringer.

Shockingly, as I learned by reading resumes, many creative writing professors at colleges and universities have no commercial writing success themselves, so they default to a career 'teaching writing'. Go figure!
From my chair, if I am gonna pay for writing advice or 'teaching', I want it from someone who has a record of success... Of course there's the problem; those who have made it big as writers have little time to provide one-on-one help to aspiring writers by providing story critique or editing services, etc. So now I have come full circle to what Ryan Holiday quoted in his article:

To quote Schopenhauer again, “to have something to say” is “by itself virtually a sufficient condition for good style.” I’ll take grade school dropout writing passionately in his prison cell over some empty, superior Yale MFA any day.

My advice is to take Ryan's advice, I think he's hit the nail on the head.

Cheers! Will(less)

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Combine Editions
William E. Simpson’s books

Average rating: 3.58 · 19 ratings · 8 reviews · 2 distinct works

	The Nautical Prepper: How to Equip and Survive on Your Bug Out Boat 4.30 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2013 — 5 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
	Dark Stallions (Legend of the Centaurians #1) 2.78 avg rating — 9 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

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5 posts
William E. Simpson's Blog: Dark Stallions - Legend of the Centaurians

Second Review on Dark Stallions Legend of the Centaurians

5.0 out of 5 stars5 stars!
By Ciara Graham on April 17, 2016
Format: Paperback

Great book, the whole family enjoyed this read! As a family we like to have reading time at night before bed. I read this to my two boys ages 12 and 9, both didn't want me to stop reading it! They ended up staying up way past bedtime as I also wasn't wanting to put it down. We finished it up in 3 nights and they're already Read more of this blog post »

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