Category: A Writer’s Take……

Authors, Where Do You Find Your Characters?

Over and over again, I preach the concept:  ‘let it flow’, ‘let your characters take you on a journey’, ‘If it’s going well, I will happily be just the typist’.

I recently interviewed Dean Koontz and here’s what he said on the subject:

Photographer: Thomas Engstrom

“And then I start. In the first few chapters, the lead characters are forming, and I am learning who they are. I’ve often said that if I give characters free will, if I don’t plot out the story and instead present them with a problem and watch them deal with it, they begin to take on a life of their own, frequently surprising me with the choices they make. This is mysterious and exciting. When it’s going well, it’s simultaneously an intense intellectual endeavor and an almost dream-state journey of wonder and emotion.”

Author, Matt Jorgenson recently said when asked: Where do you first discover your characters?
“Initially I don’t think of them as characters. It’s kind of like arranging furniture. I need OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAsomething tall here, wide there, elegant there. I often just plop them in for the energy they lend to the development of the story. When I’m unable to sit at my laptop and write I will often sketch out backstories for some of the characters with pen and paper based on what seems reasonable according to how they act/function in the story and then weave those details back in later.”
Continue reading “Authors, Where Do You Find Your Characters?”

That Magical Space Where You Write…

writers, fiction, create, authors, children's books, art, painting
this author’s studio

I think one of your tools, as a writer, should be a special work space.  Do you have an extra room? Even, if its all you have, a large closet will serve.  Somewhere you can call you own, a space that will, I promise you, become a creative oasis. Where no one enters except  by invitation.

And it can change from day to day. I have interviewed many authors and they write on the beach, a coffee shop, on the train, in a lonely cabin in the mountains.

An author's work space... the train
An author’s work space… the train

I’ve always had the luxury of a spare bedroom to call my studio.  On my walls I am surrounded by my own water color work, framed letters from my publisher, photos of theatre productions. In one corner is my desk and a comfortable chair.  My desktop computer has the place of honor as I do all my writing there.  I simply can’t write long hand as I cannot write fast enough when the spirit is on me!  I type seventy five words a minute and sometimes that’s too slow.  Continue reading “That Magical Space Where You Write…”

More with Matt Jorgenson, Writer (part three)

matt with motorcyleQ. Where/when do you first discover your characters?

Initially I don’t think of them as characters. It’s kind of like arranging furniture. I need something tall here, wide there, elegant there. I often just plop them in for the energy they lend to the development of the story. When I’m unable to sit at my laptop and write I will often sketch out backstories for some of the characters with pen and paper based on what seems reasonable according to how they act/function in the story and then weave those details back in later.

Q. What inspired your story/stories?

I suppose most of my stories are inspired by a frustration with the status quo and comfort zones. Particularly when there is needless pain or discomfort. A little orderliness and predictability can be nice, sure. What breaks my heart is watching and listening to people take a rote approach to life that’s making them miserable. Whether it’s their job, their relationship, their sexuality, drug of choice, inherited system of morality, or favorite hockey team… hanging on to some inherited or cultural obligation that blocks a person off from experiencing all that’s great with the world as they tick closer to death is truly tragic. Continue reading “More with Matt Jorgenson, Writer (part three)”

Interview with author, Matt Jorgenson (part two)

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Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?

As far as I can tell I have three basic modes; burn, churn, and incubate. I’m good at writing thousands of words per day when I’m off and running on a new project. I’ll work 3-5 hours per day when I’m burning. I start early because I have to make time for family obligations during the day. And, when I’m burning, I will stay up as late as it takes to hit whatever daily word count I’ve set for myself. Staying up late makes the next day HARD which is why I try to start early. It also kicks the creative process in gear and it’s easier to drop a few hundred words here and there if my creativity is already up and running, just idling patiently as I do dishes or help a kid with homework.
Incubation is a mode I inhabit either between projects or when I’m letting a project with some serious meat on it “cook” for a bit. I do very little project oriented writing when I’m in this mode. I’ll draft clever bits for social media or play with words in my journal just to keep a handle on my craft. However, when I’m incubating I become a voracious consumer of content and information produced by others. I’ll binge watch Netflix, re-watch favorite movies, read both fiction and non-fiction books, listen to dozens of podcasts while out walking the dog, find new situations to get involved in, go on adventures. Modify my meditation routines. Clean the house. Host parties. Continue reading “Interview with author, Matt Jorgenson (part two)”

An Interview with Author, Matt Jorgenson

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMatt Jorgenson – the author of Extraordinary Ostriches, Possible Particles and the Bifurcated Homunculus, The Hermaphroditic Shaman and the Missing Bottle of Ketchup, and Coagulation – A Clot of Stories.  The titles alone should intrigue any reader but what really fascinated this blogger  was that Matt has hung canvas on his wall, at home, so visitors can express their artistic bent while there.

Q.  Matt, where do you write?

MJ. I do the bulk of my writing at home with my laptop. There’s a chair in the den/dining room I use when settling in for a long session. There’s a pub table in the kitchen I switch to when I’m on a roll and family obligations need to be juggled. It’s good to switch back and forth between the two as it’s easy to stand up and work at the pub table. I do little isometric exercises to stave off the aches and pains of prolonged sitting and get my blood pumping. When traveling or trying to break through a tough plot point I will break out a legal pad and a pen and write long hand. Cars, hotels, the basements of extended family members, and bars are some of my favorite places for this approach.

Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write?

MJ. Big glass of ice water. Hot coffee. Wordless music, typically EDM or House. Since I tend to write fast-paced, intense stories I find that a high level of beats-per-minute in the ambient music Continue reading “An Interview with Author, Matt Jorgenson”

A Story Set To Silent Music

Congratulations, this is just a quick note to let you know that your poem, Remembered Love is one of the poems being featured on the PoetrySoup.com home page this week. Thanks again and congratulations.

Sincerely, PoetrySoup.com

Montana.high.3
Montana High Country

Remembered Love ©

Ashes waft over the meadow
a jet stream of sorrow,
beckoning the widow to the
edge, down to the river.

Contented epoch, at the
creek where the wolves run,
he lived and laughed.

We watched the bright blue
stars foxtrot across the milky
way, a midnight indigo quilt
shivering with light.

Mountain men whose Continue reading “A Story Set To Silent Music”

Looking for a Good Mystery?

Do you read mysteries? Then you’ll love this mystery series set in the tough streets of New York City. 1.worldofmurderBW..NEW.USE._820 - Copy (2)Detective Jack O’Roarke, a big rough Irish cop, and his gentle, lady-like partner, Stella Garcia (make no mistake; she can take down a perp twice her size) enter the mysterious world of stripper clubs, art museums, Broadway theatre, the priesthood, and cooking shows to catch their killer.

The series begins with The Art of Murder and currently ends with the most recent, The Taste of Murder, which takes you behind the scenes of reality cooking shows. Please enjoy the following excerpt.

Patrick Shelley, dressed in his signature pink dress shirt and matching paisley tie, walked up to O’Roarke and dropped a case file box on his desk, barely missing the detective’s nose. Another detective, right behind Pat, set two more boxes on a chair and, snorting in disgust, walked away. Pat scowled down at O’Roarke as he flipped open the lid.
“What’s this?” Homicide Detective O’Roarke asked.
“A cold case of mine.” The cop barked. “Boss said to give it to you.” Continue reading “Looking for a Good Mystery?”

Wind Horse…A Little Haiku for your Monday morning

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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!       Julia London in October and Matt Jorgenson later this winter. Coming in December!  My review of a new release by Dean Koontz, Ashley Bell.

To receive  my  blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  sign up on the home page and enter your email address.  I love comments!  Take the time to write one at the bottom of the post.

{Charcoal rendering and poetry by T.Sugarek}

 

 

More with best selling author, Julia London (part 3)

Julia in Ireland
Julia in Ireland

Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like?

(con’t. from Part 2)  JL.  From there, the manuscript is improved over and over again with subsequent rounds of editing by me, by an editor’s notes, by copy editors who catch inconsistencies that, unbelievably, neither me or a developmental editor caught. So the finished book has been massaged and manipulated many times over. At least in my experience.

Q. How has your life experiences influenced your writing/stories?

JL. Just living life informs the writing. I meant what I said about having to be in the world to understand it. It would be very easy to never leave my house, to sit in front of a computer all day. But I won’t allow myself to do that. I have an active lifestyle, I travel, I have an extended family I love and that has been dysfunctional from time to time. Continue reading “More with best selling author, Julia London (part 3)”

Inspiration…Wherever You Can Get It!

poetry, writing, inspiration, writer, native american, superstition, talisman, totems,                   I was sitting, in my car, on a freeway, (some might say a parking lot), stuck in traffic, not moving.  To while away the time I was reading the bumper stickers and signs in the back windows of other automobiles.  Wondering if I’d ever get home, it suddenly struck me; the parallel between totems, talismans, and these stickers, magnets, paste-ons that modern man posts on his steel steed to declare his beliefs.

Here is an excerpt of the poetry that was born while impatiently sitting in traffic.  Grabbing scraps of paper from the floorboards, writing on a restaurant napkin, old receipt, the back of a grocery list… lest I forget my words~~~~

Totem and Talisman  ©

Totem. Storyteller of the tribe’s history and lore,
felled and carved in reverence, from the tree centuries old  sculpted in living wood;
a face, a fish, a spirit, a bear, the sun, the moon

Totems live on as statuary in the garden;  a wooden rooster tops the mail box.
A mural brushed upon a barn wall; the flag of a beloved country, the star of a lone state.

The Nations painted their sturdy, brave little horses before battle…
a circle of paint about the eye for truer vision, hand prints on shoulder
and flank to ward off the spear

Today’s tribes paint their vehicles with bumper stickers, magnetic ribbons,
and window decals. All proclaiming some truth, totems to tell other tribes what they believe.

Support this, hate that, down with this, up with that.  Proud to be a redneck,
a woman, a boater, a christian, a Viet Nam vet, proud to be a farmer,
a republican, a parent, a fisherman.  Prouder still to be a soldier,
a grandpa, a boy scout, a sailor, a golfer, an Irishman, a lover of guns.’ ©

Keep yourself open to inspiration…eyes, ears, brain and heart.  You will be inspired by strange and wonderful things and you will write strange and wonderful things. You will leave totems for following generations to read.

To read more of my poetry……..click here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!       Julia London in October and Matt Jorgenson later this winter. Coming in December!  My review of a new release by Dean Koontz, Ashley Bell.

To receive  my  blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  sign up on the home page and enter your email address.  I love comments!  Take the time to write one at the bottom of the post.