Kat Brokaw
Fantasy Fiction Writer
Ask me:
What is the hardest or easiest part of writing fiction?
R.G.
Grand Ledge, Michigan
The answer to both is writing. I spend most of my day talking, reading,
thinking, dreaming about writing. But I have to force myself to remember to
actually sit down and write. I can think of a thousand things I have to do
"real quick" before I sit down to write.
But, when I make myself connect behind to chair and get my fingers on the
keyboard, there is nothing more natural. There is no greater moment of
freedom. And I am always amazed, at that moment, that I hadn't thought of doing
this before!
Pretty much every author who ever wrote even a paragraph of "to do" about writing
has said that you have to do it every day. To set a deadline, a time limit, a
minimum number of pages. As a young author I poo-pooed their advice; declaring
that the artistic process cannot be dictated to or so constrained. Now I dictate
to my artistic self. Butt in the chair for at least an hour or three pages.
But feel free to find your own mandates.
Where do you get the names for your characters?
A.W.
Madison, Wisconsin
You're going to hate this answer, but it depends. Sometimes the characters come to mind
complete with name and history. Sometimes it's just a voice and I have to find the name.
This can mean historical or current name research. Sometimes on-line and sometimes with
a good old fashioned baby-name book. I have a great book from Writer's Digest that separates
names by ancestral groups (Spanish and French and Greek, etc).
One thing I do when I'm coming up with my cast of characters is write the alphabet on a
separate sheet, and cross out letters as I pick names. An X for a major character and a /
for a minor character. That way I don't end up with too many J- names.
Got a question you want to ask? Go ahead!
Ask me!
Unless otherwise noted, all text on this site is
the original work of Kat Brokaw and protected by copyright law.
Original background art “Sky Lady” © 2006 Kaide Brokaw.
Thank you.
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