Interview with B. Doyle [bdoyle]

B. Doyle [bdoyle]

WRITING

What did you first read? How did you begin to write? Who were the first to read what you wrote?

I've been reading far longer than I can remember. I loved all the well known children's books like Amelia Bebelia and everything by Dr. Seuss, but when I was older I started to look books closer to series like Goosebumps and Animorphs. Living in the mountains a good hour away from town gave me a lot of time to curl up with these books as a child. I didn't begin to write until middle school, it never occurred to me before than that I could write anything past school work at all. A close friend of mine showed me that people wrote for fun, without getting published, and posted their stories online just to share them. I started to do the same, though she was really the only person who ever read anything I managed to finish.

What is your favorite genre? Can you provide a link to a site where we can read some of your work or learn something about it?

I tend to like mixed genres or ones that are a bit different from the norm. I lean toward things like horror for something a bit more normal, but I have always adored the idea of anything steampunk. I would share my work, but at this point in time the only things I have to share are articles on Yahoo!, and a very sparse number of them at that. http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/1507916/kathryn_e_barry.html

What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write?

I would love to give a detailed summary of how much dedication and effort goes into my writing process, but it's really a simple and disappointing answer. I sit down at my computer and hope the internet does not distract me. Then I just keep typing until I get hungry or my eyes hurt. I let everything come to me and keep working and working until I either run dry for the day or simply can't type for a while.

What type of reading inspires you to write?

All types, really. Though reading a book I don't particularly care for found rather poorly done always tends to make me want to write something better.

What do you think are the basic ingredients of a story?

The plot/story, the characters, your protagonist/main character, your antaganist (which could be anything from another person to a physical obstacle, as I consider this a catch all term), and the details that show your research and effort into all of these elements.

What voice do you find most to your liking: first person or third person?

I enjoy both voices, though I enjoy reading and writing in third person a bit more than first person.

What well known writers do you admire most?

Far too many to properly list! I greatly admire writers like Stephen King, who came from what could be called nothing to become one of the most popular and well known authors after going through a great deal of pain and misfortune in his life and continues to work and find a way to create new stories. I admire writers like J.K.Rowling, who managed to plan out her series so completed before even the creation of the halfway point and who managed to find success in a foreign market from a simple idea. I admire writers like Neil Gaiman, who is so unique and inspiring and creative I don't feel I can do him justice in a summary. I admire anyone who is able to write for pure enjoyment and to share their stories because they love what they do.

What is required for a character to be believable? How do you create yours?

This one is a little strange for me to answer, in a way. To me, the only things required to make a character believable is to make sure they don't so anything unbelievable in their situation. That's it. Everyone reacts differently in a situation, how would your character realistically react in it? As for creating characters... In all seriousness, I don't create my characters. They simply come to me and as I work with them I manage to fill in the blanks, learn more about them, figure out who they are as the story goes. I let them write themselves, crazy or stupid or brilliant or insufferable as they may be. I don't force them to be something they may not be, I let the pieces fall into place and work around them and with them instead.

Are you equally good at telling stories orally?

No, no, no I am not, no. I can't read out loud or formulate a story orally without stumbling over my words.

Deep down inside, who do you write for?

Myself. I find it a bad idea to write for anyone else in my personal situation, unless I am trying to prove them wrong, that I can write.

Is writing a form of personal therapy? Are internal conflicts a creative force?

It is, somewhat, for me.

B. Doyle [bdoyle] Tweet (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();

B. Doyle [bdoyle]
Tweet