The Author Interviews, Round 3: #2: Ryan Witt

Round Three of the Author Interviews continues with Ryan Witt, author of Article X Control Alt Delete. Please visit the Everyman Productions Facebook page for more info.Where do you get your ideas from?I honestly wish I knew so I could go there all the time. The clearest answer I can give is I don't know. I tend to think a lot about things, people and situations. Once I dwell on something long enough I see it in my head in a fictional way, as long as it's something I'm passionate about.Why do you write?When I was a kid I was told I was bad at every subject in school. I was around twelve or thirteen and just beginning to accept I wouldn't be good at anything when the teacher told me a short story project I did the week before was very good. That positive encouragement really helped me. By the next summer I wrote my first book. I was just a kid so I really didn't think of it in terms of someone reading it. I more saw myself in a new way, realizing I had a talent in something and explored it.What do you find most appealing about your chosen genre?For the time being, I do not see myself choosing a specific genre to stay in. If you came up to me three years ago and said I would write a science fiction political thriller set in the future, I would have laughed at how improbable that would be. I love Sci-Fi, but never felt I would set a story in that genre. I'm excited and happy that my first novel, Article X Control Alt Delete, is out and fans of science fiction may like it, but I already have the beginnings of another book in my head and it is very different. More like a romance novel than a tense political thriller about the possible end of the world.How do you deal with bad reviews, rejection and criticism?I try and welcome it as best as I can and take it as a chance to improve myself. As a writer, you can always seek ways that help your story or character. Rejection was harder when I was young. I tried submitting many things throughout the years and after awhile I started to feel I was wasting my time. Not writing, I ALWAYS enjoy that, but simply sending it to people. I just stopped doing that.What do you find difficult about writing?Many people struggle with writer's block and I'm no different. Many times I seem to need to create the right balance in my environment and mood and that can't happen every day. At the same time, there are moments when I cannot rest until I at least jot a few lines down, to save them for another time. The hardest part I find is knowing exactly what you want to say and not having it come out sounding the way it is in your head. I constantly work on that.Do you ever outsource your work?No. I can't say I never will in the future, but for now I'm really in a book writing sort of mode that is perhaps overwhelmingly  my own monster.What is your opinion on indie vs traditional publishing?Having just self-published via CreateSpace.com, I have to say I am rather pro-indie or DIY publishing. I would never turn down an offer from a company and would welcome the chance to have an agent someday, but I also feel strongly that artists can maintain their own work and put it out how they want. The market may be flooded with thousands of self-published books and stories and from a business perspective I can see why one would think that's a hurdle. I personally think it's brilliant! There seemed to be a notion fifteen or twenty years ago that you weren't a writer until you were published and your books were out there on the shelf. I always thought that anyone that has the passion, dedication, and willingness to write 400 pages about anything already IS a writer. The fact that no one has read it doesn't discount what they are.Talk us through your creative process from start to finish.It changes slightly. For the novel I just released, it was based on the idea and nothing else. All I had in my head was the scenario what if America outlawed sex and only allowed it for one day. What would that look like? How would it affect people? I started from that and began discovering characters, darkness, violence and many other themes that I admit are not for everyone. Once I got about fifty pages in or so, I outlined and re-outlined a lot, because I realized the story was growing a little bit in size. I am sure I was tempted to draw the entire arc out in three or four books. It is popular and economical right now for good reasons. I felt like I shouldn't leave anything on a cliffhanger, though, especially if I didn't write another book for awhile. I wanted to get to the end. I know this sounds a bit crazy, but the process of writing Article X Control Alt Delete felt very much like going through something traumatic in a way, and I needed resolution as a person shaping  the story. I wanted as a reader to know the whys and hows and it drove me to work to create them all.What advice would you give to aspiring writers?It may sound simple but just do it. Write and do not apologize for it. Every writer is different and should be. I have gone years without even showing my work to anyone, mostly because it was stuff just for myself. In today's world, I think we may be getting a bit more comfortable with promoting ourselves. Facebook status alone can give people confidence. Basically, my overall advice is whatever you, the artist, feels has merit. If you go through some months of working by yourself and perfecting your craft, that's great. If you want to show anyone everything you have done and will do, that is also great! Trust yourself. Your intuition tends to be correct for you.If you could go back in time 12 months, what would you advise yourself?Use Google Docs more!Would you agree a good book must withstand more than one read?Not always. There are books that I enjoy reading more than once, but there are others I never return to. A good example is the book “Johnny Got His Gun” by Dalton Trumbo. I read that book when I was a freshman in high school and was profoundly affected by it. I think it was the moment I realized I wanted to write novels, actually. For a single book to cause such powerful reactions? I hadn't came across anything like it, before or since, but I don't think I would need to re-read it.What do you look for when shopping on Amazon for a Kindle book? Highlight those you would consider. Are any of the below more important to you than others?Cover / Title / Author / Price / Description / Publisher / Sample Chapter / Reviews - Almost all of these would be something I check before buying a book except a publisher. I tend not to focus too much on that. Sometimes the cover turns me off, so I do look at a sample chapter or review if I can.Who is your favourite author and why?This is akin to me saying who my favorite band is or song because it depends on where I am at. Right now it has to be Jennifer DuBois because I just finished reading her first novel “A Partial History Of Lost Causes” and it was beyond rewarding. She has sentences, just sentences, that knocked me out! After finishing my own book I was starved for good reading and that book fed me and then some.Do you shop for indie books online? If not, why?Not yet, but only because time and money have been factors. Since I now have my first book available online, I plan to do a lot of shopping and reading of online books.What would it take for you to leave a review on Amazon/ Goodreads?I like giving reviews, but the passion would have to be so overwhelming that I would literally not be able to sleep before writing one and then telling everyone I know to stop their life and read whatever it was. I also am a little hesitant to over compliment, only because I am afraid of it sounding disingenuous.After downloading book one for free/ 99p or 99c on Amazon, do you ever return and pay more for book two? If not, why?I'm sure I sound old fashioned, but I haven't done any of this as of yet. I bet that will change soon.Do you ever visit an author's website and if so, why?Rarely. Sometimes I think I would rather read the work first and then learn about the author, not the other way around. That's just how I tend to be though.What would it take for you to sign up to a mailing list?Probably just ask me, as long as one knows I check my emails rarely. Even my snail mail tends to pile up.Do you ever enter giveaways and/ or order signed copies?I haven't really, but would if I found the right one.What would it take for you to recommend a book to a friend?Not much. I try and tell a lot of people about what I am reading. To be fair I also tell them to read my own novel too.Many thanks to Ryan Witt for the interview - please show your support by visiting him online and purchasing a copy of the book.