Ask the Author: Travis Heermann
Answered Questions (7)
Travis Heermann
Interesting question. I don't often think about characters as couple-units, although I do appreciate a good romance. I'm going to answer this from a writing craft perspective, because one of the downsides of being a writer is constantly deconstructing something that works well to examine why it does.
I'm going to go with Claire and James Frazer from Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER series.
Their relationship is not just all about the attraction. It feels like a real relationship. They fight. They make up. They make accommodations for each other while remaining true to themselves.
I recently watched the first season of the TV series, and I really appreciated the skill with which the web of character conflicts was set up, including Claire's and Jamie's. Claire has great internal conflicts as the protagonist, with a husband back in the 20th century, and this big strapping Scotsman back in the 18th century, and a load of cultural differences to navigate, any one of which could spell real disaster or death for her if handled poorly. Jamie saves her repeatedly but she's not a damsel in distress. She also saves him repeatedly. It felt like a very modern, feminist romance.
I'm going to go with Claire and James Frazer from Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER series.
Their relationship is not just all about the attraction. It feels like a real relationship. They fight. They make up. They make accommodations for each other while remaining true to themselves.
I recently watched the first season of the TV series, and I really appreciated the skill with which the web of character conflicts was set up, including Claire's and Jamie's. Claire has great internal conflicts as the protagonist, with a husband back in the 20th century, and this big strapping Scotsman back in the 18th century, and a load of cultural differences to navigate, any one of which could spell real disaster or death for her if handled poorly. Jamie saves her repeatedly but she's not a damsel in distress. She also saves him repeatedly. It felt like a very modern, feminist romance.
Travis Heermann
My most recent FINISHED novel is The Hammer Falls, a gritty SF-noir story, and it is currently sitting on an editor's desk all dolled up for the prom. It came to me while I was at the Odyssey Writing Workshop, during an in-class brainstorming exercise. It started out as a short story, but even then I knew the main character was too large to fit into a short story. It had been in my mind since 2009 to expand that story into a novel, so I started that project for NaNoWriMo last year, hit the 50k goal, and finished the book a few months later.
Travis Heermann
Like Writer's Block, waiting for inspiration is a luxury a professional writer cannot afford. So I write. Period. Whether or not the Muse is sleeping off a bender in someone else's bed.
A good way to feed your Muse and keep her coming around though is to live a life full of experiences. Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.”
A good way to feed your Muse and keep her coming around though is to live a life full of experiences. Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.”
Travis Heermann
Spirit of the Ronin, Book 3 of the Ronin Trilogy
Travis Heermann
1. Write something. Write everyday.
2. FINISH it.
3. Send it out to someone who will pay you money for it.
4. When it comes back, send it out again.
5. Meanwhile, write something else. Lather, rinse, and repeat.
Corollary: Recognize that you are always learning. You're never as good as you think you are. You're always better than you're afraid you are. Read a LOT. Study the masters. Look at how they did what they did. There are powerful reasons we're still reading Shakespeare.
2. FINISH it.
3. Send it out to someone who will pay you money for it.
4. When it comes back, send it out again.
5. Meanwhile, write something else. Lather, rinse, and repeat.
Corollary: Recognize that you are always learning. You're never as good as you think you are. You're always better than you're afraid you are. Read a LOT. Study the masters. Look at how they did what they did. There are powerful reasons we're still reading Shakespeare.
Travis Heermann
The best thing is that I get to open up my imagination and pour it out onto the page, to create stories and characters and love, and that these stories and characters, like pebbles thrown into a pond, ripple out to make an impact on people.
Travis Heermann
Writer's block is a luxury that professional writers can't afford. There are times when the brain has to percolate on a story, so then it's a good idea to go get some exercise or do something else for a while, during those times it often happens the answer to whatever your question comes to you.
Mainly, writers must write. Period. You show up with your butt in the chair, every day. Sometimes what comes out is good, sometimes its not. But you're still making progress, even if you have to go back and edit later.
Everybody has good days, where everything comes together, and bad days, where nothing does. Worrying about writer's block gives it too much power over you.
Mainly, writers must write. Period. You show up with your butt in the chair, every day. Sometimes what comes out is good, sometimes its not. But you're still making progress, even if you have to go back and edit later.
Everybody has good days, where everything comes together, and bad days, where nothing does. Worrying about writer's block gives it too much power over you.
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