Authors Answer 152 – Writing Real People in Fiction

Though I’d be more likely to write alternate history than historical fiction.

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

In high school, I read a book called The Wars, by Timothy Findley.  In this novel, the main character finds himself in a house with Virginia Woolf, who was a real person. In fact, she was an author. But she was appearing in a fictional novel. Naomi Novik has used real historical figures in her Temeraire series, as well. Books based on history and our real world quite likely will have real life characters. But what if we based the book on a real person? Who would we write about?

Question 152 – If you could write a fictional book about any famous person, living or dead, who would it be?

Gregory S. Close

I think I’d like to write a biography of Boudica. Celtic warrior queen fighting the fight against the might of Rome? Inspirational but tragic. I’d like to highlight more women in history, especially those in…

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Authors Answer 151 – Tough Criticism

You can’t please all of the people all of the time.

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

Authors will never please everyone. They have their fans, but also their critics. Check out some of the reviews on Amazon or Goodreads, and you’ll see some pretty negative reviews, including for books that are widely loved. Authors need to develop a thick skin when dealing with criticism, whether it’s from readers or publishers.

Question 151 – What is the toughest criticism given to you as an author?

C E Aylett

Do you know what? I can’t think of anything I’d consider really tough. I mean, sure, I receive ‘harsh’ critiques on workshop pieces but in a constructively harsh way, so i don’t really see that as tough. More like helpful. When I was a Noob I got a bitchy critique from someone but I soon found out that they had some rather ugly and deep psychological issues. It was such a long time ago I don’t even remember what…

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Authors Answer 150 – Creative Evolution

I sometimes wonder if I’ve changed in ways I’m not aware of too.

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

Writing is a skill that changes over time. The more an author writes, the better they become at their craft. Reading our first stories remind us how far we’ve come. And quite often we cringe and hide that story so no one can see it. This time, we’re talking about how we’ve changed over the course of our writing careers.

Question 150 – How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?

H. Anthe Davis

I think I’ve most evolved in my editing skill — my ability to detect bad material and fix it. I’ve also loosened up a bit in my textual diction and am slowly figuring out how to not torture the English language, as I was critiqued once. I used to use more complex constructions and more high-falutin’ words in places where they weren’t necessary, or were in fact counter-productive to the flow and tone of the narrative. I’m…

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Authors Answer 149 – eBook Piracy

I think there are some gray areas in the area of piracy and intellectual property (rare out-of-print works; unofficial translations), but pirating just to save the few dollars that an ebook costs is definitely not one of them.

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

Pretty much everything that’s been copyrighted or patented has been copied. There are bootleg copies of Rolex watches, bootlegged and pirated movies, sharing of music with peer-to-peer sharing software, and eBook piracy. It’s the last one we’re concerned about. This week’s question was asked by Gregory S. Close.

Question 149 – What are your thoughts on ebook piracy – is it a terrible scourge, a necessary evil, or potentially great viral exposure?

C E Aylett

That’s a tricky one. I mean, before ebooks were around how many times did you lend or were lent a book? We didn’t recognise it back then as piracy, but it amounts to the same thing — sharing a work you didn’t have the right to distribute. Of course, that’s small scale compared to how things are shared nowadays.

I came across one of my Kindle stories on a reading site the other day, actually…

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Authors Answer 148 – Selling Your Book’s Film Rights

And the first time anyone suggests whitewashing or straightwashing is an instant no.

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

Popular books are most likely to be filmed. Lord of the Rings became arguably some of the best film adaptations. The Hobbit is another matter. Jurassic Park became a fun action and special effects movie, but lost the intelligence of the book. When authors sell the film rights to their books, they have to consider who’s going to make the movie and how closely they’ll adhere to the original story of the book. Do it for money, or do it for the integrity of the story? This week’s question was asked by C E Aylett.

Question 148 – Given the opportunity, would you sell film rights to your book without question or risk waiting for the right production team to come along later down the line, even if there were no other offers on the table?

H. Anthe Davis

I would certainly want to wait for the right production team…

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Authors Answer 147 – Considering Economic Factors When Writing

I’m not sure I even understand the relationship between length and profitability well enough for thinking about it to accomplish anything anyway.

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

Creativity is probably the leading reason authors write. They want to create stories that people enjoy. But how much does economics factor into writing books? There are several factors that may figure into how a person writes, including book length and more. This week’s question comes from Gregory S. Close.

Question 147 – Do you write purely creatively, or do you consider economic factors, such as how long the book will be, and how that would effect production/distribution costs?

C E Aylett

Purely creatively. If you approach it from the other direction you are boxing in your muse. And there’s nothing worse than a story that feels contrived to fit size (think of TV series Game of Thrones — wouldn’t we have liked a little more time to develop the Jon/ Dany relationship? Now it feels inauthentic because it wasn’t afforded the proper amount of time to develop, unlike him…

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How Long Did It Take To Write The World’s Most Popular Books? [Infographic]…

There’s something hilarious about 50 Shades of Gray taking longer to write than Twilight…

5 years and counting on my first one. At least I’m in good company.

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

From LifeHacker site:

Did you know it took J.R.R Tolkien approximately 16 years to write some obscure trilogy of novels called The Lord of the Rings? Clocking in at over 500,000 words, that’s no real surprise. But how long do you think it took to write some of the other popular books in human history?
This infographic comes courtesy of printerinks and is an expertly-designed look at how long some of the biggest names in literature took to write their books. Of particular interest to me is George R R Martin’s five years on Game of Thrones… No wonder Winds of Winter is taking an age. Please finish the book, George!

I also had no idea that John Boyne’s The Boy In Striped Pyjamas was written in such a short amount of time! Apparently Boyne barely even slept until he was done with the first draft. Incredible stuff. It’s not…

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Authors Answer 145 – Tropes and Cliches

Most plots can’t even be summarized without mentioning a trope or two, especially in genre fiction.

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

What’s the difference between a trope and a cliche? In literature, a trope is the use of figures of speech, basically. But it can also refer to common themes to various genres (for example, dark lords and the chosen one type of hero in fantasy). But that sounds like a cliche, doesn’t it? However, a cliche is something that is overused so that it loses its original meaning. This week, we’re talking about that, and the question comes from Gregory S. Close.

Question 145 – Do you avoid tropes and/or cliche in your writing? Why or why not?

Cyrus Keith

Tropes and cliches are WAY too much fun to totally leave behind. Overuse can make a story boring and pat. But if your can combine tropes into something totally new, you can do magic with it. Just learn that fine line on which to balance.

D. T. Nova

I avoid…

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Authors Answer 144 – The Writer’s Ego

You need to have confidence in your work, but whether it’s good or bad to trust your own judgment of it above everyone else’s is partially dependent on it’s own quality.

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

Everyone has an ego, right? The ego is an interesting thing. Some people have a big ego and think very highly of themselves. Others are the opposite, and don’t have much of an ego. They still have an ego, though. It has to do with self-esteem as well as self-importance. But we usually hear about the self-importance part. So, how does it affect authors? This week’s question is from Eric Wood.

Question 144 – Does having a big ego help or hinder a writer?

C E Aylett

I’m sure there have been cases of both — the genius who knows it to be so and is uncompromising in taking advice from others ‘beneath’ him/her and wins out in producing a masterpiece and the humble author who listens openly to suggestions and takes on board what fits with what s/he’s trying to accomplish.

However, in most acknowledgements in most novels, credit…

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Authors Answer 143 – The First Book Advance

How common are advances large enough to raise this question, anyway?

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

Writing books is a job. Most authors do it with the hope that they can become a full time author, and be able to support themselves on the income they receive. But that first advance is a big milestone in any author’s career. This week’s question comes from our very own C E Aylett.

I would also like to take a moment and thank Beth Aman for her contributions in the past year. She’s going to college, and will be concentrating on that. Good luck, Beth!

Question 143 – What would you/did you spend your first book advance on?

Linda G. Hill

I would spend my advance getting myself out of debt. …wait, how much are we talking? More than $30,000? I’ll probably go out for coffee.

Cyrus Keith

Probably a car. I’ve never had a car that I didn’t have to spend dark, cold evenings in my driveway effecting…

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