Happy Interview Week - How to write a novel - from a professional novelist

 

1. What are your favorite books? 

Well the Bible is number one of course, because it is God’s word for us. After that, the Dark Tower series because it blends so many of the things I love into a single work of creativity. There’s adventure, magic, heroes, villains, there is a unique interpretation of sort of an Arthurian legend. There’s some philosophical concepts and really compelling and interesting characters. And I love the exploration of the concept of the multiverse and magic and technology and mythology and world building. I also really like the Expanse series which does many similar and wonderful things set in a science fiction setting. Armor by John Steakly. That book comes I think the closest of any fiction I’ve ever read at capturing what it’s really like to be a soldier in a war. And the Road by Cormac McCarthy which explores the love of a father for his child that really I think paints a compelling picture. And then I would say the Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jenisin is I think the most creative work of fiction written in the last fifty years. She’s a magnificent writer. I think her writing is the fiercest. It makes you feel things. She’s extraordinarily talented, and everyone should read her books at some point in their lives. 

2. How do you get inspiration?

Inspiration comes from all over the place. One major plot for a story came to me in the shower. The full plot. I have woken up from sleeping with the memory of a dream, and it is a whole novel in my head. Other story ideas have come from what if conversations with my best friend. Or just really anything can inspire me. News articles are stories. Walks in nature inspire me. A word or a phrase in a poem. Or a song. Or spending time with loved ones. Or things I overhear people say. Ideas can come from anywhere when you’re a writer. You just have to learn to receive those ideas. 

3. Could you tell me a bit about your most recent novel? 

Sure. My most recent novel is a crime thriller set in rural Maryland that deals with themes related to post traumatic stress, guilt, greed, corruption, families of all kinds. Whether those we’re born into, those we find, those we make. And the weight of consequence.

4. What challenges does one face when writing a novel? 

Writing a novel is HARD. It takes determination, it takes a kind of willingness to spend time doing that, instead of other things. Like sleeping. It can feel very insurmountable, especially when first starting your novel. It can be a source of self doubt about am I even able to do this. 

5. What other activities help boost inspiration? 

Spending time with loved ones. Listening to music. Reading. Those are like my top ones. 

6. How do you overcome writer’s block? 

I’ve never had writers block, which is a feeling where you don’t know what to write next. But sometimes I have a really hard time getting started. And I don’t know why that is. But the one thing that reliably helps me is to tell myself, Ok. Just write 100 words. And like, 100 words is nothing. You can write 100 words in a few minutes. And here’s the trick. If I’ve written 100 words, I just keep going. Once you get started, that’s all it takes. They might be lousy words. They probably will be. But you can fix that. You can’t fix nothing. 

7. What are your favorite words to use? 

Some of my favorite words from my current novel are: necrotizing, chiaroscuro, mausoleum, brutalist, and Rowan. 

8. What would you say to a beginner novelist? 

Never doubt that you can write a book. You just have to stick with it and no matter what, keep writing. Also, almost everything that people write in the beginning isn’t that great. But the act of keeping writing, working and practicing, will cause the writing to improve. The best way to develop your writing skills, is to read and write constantly. 

9. What’s your favorite genre? 

I like most genres that I read. But probably my favorite is sci fi. Because you can tell all the stories of humanity in science fiction and you’re limited only by the bounds of your imagination. 

10. How do your life experiences influence your novel? 

Quite a bit actually. Because one of the characters in my novel was in the army in Afghanistan, just like I was. And one of the key themes of the novel is the impact to him and his family because of what happened to him. Also, I was born and mostly raised in the setting of my novel, Maryland. 

11. Have you written anything besides novels? If so, how are they different from novel writing? 

I’ve also written some short stories. Writing novels and short stories is so different. It’s almost like two different creative forms. In a novel, you have more space and freedom to develop your plot and characters, and build interesting plots over the course of 100,000 words. With short stories, you have to tell a full story and take characters on a journey with just a few pages. You have to be economical with your background and world building, while still telling a good story. I think writing a great short story is just as hard as writing a great novel. It is just hard in a different way. 

12. What makes you most happy about writing? 

It’s the opportunity to be creative and to tell a story that only I can tell, in the way that I can tell it. It’s just that simple. 

13. What frustrates you the most? 

Hmm. . . When sometimes I see or know in my mind exactly what I’m trying to portray, but then I sometimes feel like my words aren’t fully capturing what I want to say. That’s why editing is so important. Sometimes you have to get the imperfect out so you have something to work on and improve. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. 

14. How long does it take to write a novel and why? 

It depends. People work at all kinds of different paces. Steven King and Dean Koontz can write novels in a few months. Others take months. Just ask George R.R. Martin. For me it takes 6 months to get a first draft, and then another 6 months of editing to get it presentable. 

15. How do you incorporate diversity into your novel as a white, American male? 

Yeah, that’s a good question. I think I try to focus on the story, and to tell a good story, and to make sure that all the characters in my story are true, complete, whole people. And making sure that, in my mind, those people are a product of their experience and background, and represent the world of the story I’m trying to tell. For example, in Maryland we’re very diverse. And every race and background fill it beautifully. So in my mind the characters in my book represent my experience of living in such a diverse state. The characters in my book echo the wonderful diversity we experience here. 

16. Why is diversity in a novel important to you? 

Diversity in a novel is important because stories are for everyone. Every culture in the world has a storytelling tradition. And if stories are for everyone, than stories we tell I think should feel like they could be for anyone. And so, I want my stories to be such that anyone of any race, culture, ethnicity, gender, or any other way someone might choose to identify, might be able to see themselves in the story that I’m telling. And if every character in my novel looks just like me, then I am excluding the vast majority of the world that doesn’t look like me. And that would be too bad. 

17. How do you make time to write with a family and a job? 

I made deliberate choices about what was important in my life. God is number one, of course. And family is always important. And then my job. And so I had to find other things that I was willing to give up to pursue writing, which takes up a lot of time. So I looked for things that I don’t think are as fulfilling as writing to me. And so I stopped playing video games. And I stopped watching almost all sports. And I focused on using that time to write instead. I will also sometimes forgo an hour or two of sleep before work in the mornings and any free time that I have, where I don’t have other plans, I try to turn that to writing time. And I also do a lot of weekend writing before my family wakes up. I’m the only morning person in our family. 

18. Which part of writing is your favorite and why? 

There’s a couple different ones. There’s the part where I’m in it - really writing, and everything is coming together. I’m telling the story. And the words I put down feel right, and feel good, and feel interesting. That’s the best feeling in the world. The other best feeling is when I type THE END. Even of a crummy first draft. Typing the end is the best. Being done. 

19. How do you make a novel gripping for a reader? 

For me, I just try to tell the kind of story that I would enjoy and find gripping. The mechanics of that are relatively straightforward as long as I stay true to my characters. That’s because every character I write should have something that they want. Something they want to do, something they want to own, some emotional or spiritual way they want to be. Someplace they want to go. Or a combination of those. Every character has to want. And every character should have an obstacle that stands between them and what they want. That obstacle could be a person, a situation, nature, or even themselves or some combination of those things. And if you have a cool character who is trying to achieve something meaningful and is faced with something significant and maybe even dangerous to overcome, you’re at least halfway there to making a gripping story. The rest comes down to good pacing, and a tight plot. 

20. How do you like to end a novel

I end a novel when the story tells me it has been told. That doesn’t mean that everybody has a happy ending, or that every loose thread has been braided into a satisfying conclusion. Only that the story has been told. Sometimes you’ll tell a story all the way through and a character’s fate hasn’t been decided. Or the reader is wondering about a few details. It is pretty impossible to resolve everything though. But if the story has been told, I find that it tells me. It tells me so.