My Approach to Writing
I want to thank you for showing an interest in my writing. Hopefully you have read one of my novels or short stories and wanted to know a bit more about the mind behind them or perhaps you have clicked on this page to decide if my work is worth taking the time to read. So I thought I’d tell you a bit about my approach and philosophy about writing and storytelling so you know what to expect when you open the first page of one of my works.
First, I write the types of stories that I want to read. In general, I prefer to read series or epics. I love it when an author builds a detailed, in-depth world that a reader can dive into and live in for a while. I like stories with so many characters that there needs to be a list of them in the back of the book. I love it when the characters in one of those huge casts interact with one another in believable, entertaining and evocative ways. Give me such a cast and I almost don’t care what the plot of book is. If the characters are strong and well developed, the story could be about watching paint dry and still be good. So there tend to be a lot of characters in my work, because I like the literary alchemy of writing the relationship dynamics and dialog among the members of a large cast.
When it comes to plots, I like intricate, multi-layered stories that make the reader ask questions. I like to read (and, of course, write) stories that will have readers read a chapter of a book at night and then ponder all of the possible implications of what they read while they’re at work the next day. I don’t like to be spoon fed each and every plot point. I like being able to puzzle them out for myself. I don’t like books that read as though the author assumes that the reader is an idiot, so that’s not the way I write.
I believe that a book can be dramatic, dark and even dire in tone without being depressing. There’s a tendency among creators of fiction, both in literature and film, to assume that for a character to be ‘real’ and well developed, that character has to be damaged or tortured in some way. There is an assumption that to be interesting, a character must come from a broken home, have been abused, or suffered some other kind of major trauma and be defined by that trauma in order to not be ‘two dimensional.’ I dispute this. While many of my characters have led extremely hard lives in their background stories and have their share of emotional scars, I never write them as being defined by those harsh backgrounds or scars. My main characters rise above their life’s trauma. They are defined and define themselves by their strengths, and they are always seeking to overcome their weaknesses, not make excuses for them.
While most of my subject matter is dark, I try very hard to make sure that my writing is never depressing. My protagonists meet the darkness which surrounds them with direct, forceful action to make their situations better. They support one another and although they may become discouraged, they never give into despair. Since the settings of my stories may be dark, I make my protagonists lights in that darkness.
I hope that this philosophy appeals to you. Enjoy my work and please feel free to send me feedback. I love hearing from my readers.
First, I write the types of stories that I want to read. In general, I prefer to read series or epics. I love it when an author builds a detailed, in-depth world that a reader can dive into and live in for a while. I like stories with so many characters that there needs to be a list of them in the back of the book. I love it when the characters in one of those huge casts interact with one another in believable, entertaining and evocative ways. Give me such a cast and I almost don’t care what the plot of book is. If the characters are strong and well developed, the story could be about watching paint dry and still be good. So there tend to be a lot of characters in my work, because I like the literary alchemy of writing the relationship dynamics and dialog among the members of a large cast.
When it comes to plots, I like intricate, multi-layered stories that make the reader ask questions. I like to read (and, of course, write) stories that will have readers read a chapter of a book at night and then ponder all of the possible implications of what they read while they’re at work the next day. I don’t like to be spoon fed each and every plot point. I like being able to puzzle them out for myself. I don’t like books that read as though the author assumes that the reader is an idiot, so that’s not the way I write.
I believe that a book can be dramatic, dark and even dire in tone without being depressing. There’s a tendency among creators of fiction, both in literature and film, to assume that for a character to be ‘real’ and well developed, that character has to be damaged or tortured in some way. There is an assumption that to be interesting, a character must come from a broken home, have been abused, or suffered some other kind of major trauma and be defined by that trauma in order to not be ‘two dimensional.’ I dispute this. While many of my characters have led extremely hard lives in their background stories and have their share of emotional scars, I never write them as being defined by those harsh backgrounds or scars. My main characters rise above their life’s trauma. They are defined and define themselves by their strengths, and they are always seeking to overcome their weaknesses, not make excuses for them.
While most of my subject matter is dark, I try very hard to make sure that my writing is never depressing. My protagonists meet the darkness which surrounds them with direct, forceful action to make their situations better. They support one another and although they may become discouraged, they never give into despair. Since the settings of my stories may be dark, I make my protagonists lights in that darkness.
I hope that this philosophy appeals to you. Enjoy my work and please feel free to send me feedback. I love hearing from my readers.