Tuesday, May 7, 2013

"Why do you write?"


A 'wandering columnist' set an open question to authors "Why do you write?" along with some peripheral questions. So I wrote in the following answer (bear with me, it's a bit of writery self-...something..) :


Because there are stories to be told. In my case, mainly sci-fi, which starts with "wouldn't it be cool IF..."


But invariably, my novels end up having a good deal of focus on the characters, why they do what they end up doing,and how they interact with every day life and how their methodology applies to the unusual things I throw at them.


How much do I read? Not enough. There's never enough time in a day for reading, writing, and everyday life. Finding the 'correct balance' is an ongoing, impossible feat.


Major influences? Daydeaming, which can chalked up to the slurry of subconscious experiences that is a slurry of books, movies, and everyday stuff. I try to not write things so obviously linked (even in my own head) to any specific inspiration, so it can be hard to peg down. One book idea came from a scab on my knee. You just never know what will lead your idle thoughts into something cool.

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