Ask the Author: Jae Holt
Answered Questions (6)
Jae Holt
It depends on what I am writing. When I wrote "Circles," my initial inspiration came from a book I read years ago. My characters were inspired by a question, who gets to decide whether the choices you make are right or wrong?
But my current middle grade novel is entirely inspired by my son. He sees reading as a chore, so being able to engage him in the novel writing process inspires me to find ways to make the characters and setting interesting to a child who does not find reading fun.
I also write every day, not necessarily to publish, but to write down thoughts that I may or may not use in the future. Here, inspiration comes in many forms: the smell of a coffee shop, the sound of a humming bird's wings outside my window, a random tweet or facebook post - anything that causes my mind to think, "I need to write that down!"
But my current middle grade novel is entirely inspired by my son. He sees reading as a chore, so being able to engage him in the novel writing process inspires me to find ways to make the characters and setting interesting to a child who does not find reading fun.
I also write every day, not necessarily to publish, but to write down thoughts that I may or may not use in the future. Here, inspiration comes in many forms: the smell of a coffee shop, the sound of a humming bird's wings outside my window, a random tweet or facebook post - anything that causes my mind to think, "I need to write that down!"
Jae Holt
I am currently working on a Middle Grade fantasy piece that is part steampunk, part face-palming adventure. This has been the most enjoyable project because my own 9-year-old son is my collaborator! His imagination can pose a few problems. Like how to incorporate rather large robot ninja spiders into an alternate 1940 Hawaii setting! Any suggestions? ^_^
Jae Holt
This is both an easy and a hard question to answer, but my advice is to just write! Write in the morning when you first wake up, write while you're waiting for your coffee or lunch order in a restaurant, write when you're waiting for the laundry to finish. You don't have to write your future novel all the time, but writing helps to keep ideas and feelings and even possible characters flowing. It also works as a therapist!
Jae Holt
The best thing about being a writer is I get to come up with stories I want to read. I love to tell stories, and writing gives me the opportunity to share them.
Jae Holt
Hmm, how do I deal with writer's block? Well, first I ask the question. "What am I trying to do?" If I can't answer that in five minutes, I walk away and do something else (like clean my kitchen). After about an hour, something will eventually come to me and I can come back to the question and answer it through writing. Sometimes, I get really stuck and that's when free-writing comes in handy. I will sit down with a blank sheet of paper and a pencil and just write random sentences. After an hour of this, I read what I've written and let it inspire me!
Jae Holt
My most recent book, "Circles," was inspired by Dante Alighieri's epic poem, "Inferno." My characters were born from the question of "who gets to choose whether your choices were good or bad?" All choices have consequences, but not all choices are clearly defined as good or bad, so is it right to let others make that decision? And that is how I ended up with a clueless college student and a very disenchanted demon!
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