Ask the Author: Rod Johnson
Answered Questions (7)
Rod Johnson
Backlash - Brad Thor; The Bugles Are Silent - John R Knaggs
Rod Johnson
Thanks for the question! The best part is the pure joy in taking a mere notion, the speck of an idea and building it into an entire story that incorporates a world that I create. In my tales, past history is what I decide it was. Present events are what I wish them to be. The future unfolds into the present along the plot line I created. Just too much fun!
Rod Johnson
Thanks for the question. I apologize for what is going to be a long answer. The inspirations for writing are infinite. Current events. Things that happen to me or someone I know. Your friends will be infinite sources of ideas. Some might even be good ones! : ) Wild ideas that pop up in conversation. Finally, I typically create characters who interest me and then give them a story, in that order. For example, Josh Morgan, my protagonist in Half of Faith and the coming sequel, was a character before there was a story. I decided what career he had. I outlined his qualities and flaws. What were his personal demons? What made him likable? What made him detestable? Once I had his biography somewhat set, I pulled a story from the news. The original idea for Half of Faith came after the first Gulf War and asked myself, what happens next and how can Josh intervene? After many years I completely revised the story for publication about five months ago and I changed history to suit my plot.
Rod
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Rod Johnson
Thanks for asking. First tip's about the same as what you'll hear from most author. If you're only writing to be a commercial success, forget it. Go climb Everest. It's probably easier. But if you write because you love it, then it's very rewarding. Secondly - no surprise here either - write every day. Struggling for something to write about? Ask your spouse or child for something that happened to them and write a fictionalized version. That way you're not having to create a story, just be creative in telling it. Next, develop a thick skin. Ask for help and be prepared for what you hear. Assess it for value. Then act on it or disregard it. Countless more but I'll mention one. If you can't get the attention of an agent or publisher, self-publish your work. If you never sell a single copy, there's nothing as motivating as seeing a professionally done paperback of your work. Thanks again!
Rod Johnson
I'm about a third of the way through the first draft of the sequel to my debut novel, Half of Faith. It's the second in the Josh Morgan Novels series and should be out in late Spring/early Summer. The working title is A Moral Presence. Thanks for asking.
Rod Johnson
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Rod Johnson
I have a few favorite ways to deal with it. Sometimes it helps to get away from the novel I'm working on entirely. A number of websites offer writing prompts. I'll pick two or three and write a very short piece for each one. For additional prompts, I just ask my wife or daughter for something they did today and then write my take on it with some attempt at making it funny. Humor usually gets the juices flowing again. If I want to try to hack my way through my current project, I think of some event from my past and start writing it into my novel, and try to make it fit into my current spot in the plot whether it really does or not. That way I don't need to be creative, just descriptive. Once done I try to resume the actual novel as though the addition were a part of it. Then I take out what I'd inserted. (Although once the personal experience I wrote about worked in the context of the story so I left it in.) Thanks for asking!
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