Blog Ring of Power Presents: KT Bryski
Don't forget to look over the rest of the interview:
Part 1 @ Terri
Part 2 @ T.W.
Part 3 @ *waves* here is where you are.
Part 4 @ Sandra
Part 5 @ Vicki
K.T.
Bryski is a Candian author and podcaster. She made her podcasting and
publishing debut with Hapax, an
apocalyptic fantasy with Dragon Moon Press (2012). Select playwriting credits
include scripts for Black Creek Pioneer Village (2011) and East o’ the Sun and West o’ the Moon: a Children’s Opera (Canadian
Children’s Opera Company, 2014). She recently received her Hon. B.A. in History
from the University of Toronto, and she is currently at work on her next novel.
Visit her at www.ktbryski.com.
Author Contact Info
Blog - Facebook Page: The Group Page of K.T.Bryski’s Writing - Goodreads Page: K.T. Bryski, - Twitter: @ktbryski
Section 3: The Creative Process
BRoP: Where
do you get your story ideas?
KT: From everywhere and anywhere. Music is
particularly good at triggering emotions that spark stories. Random “what if”
thoughts sometimes come to me while I’m washing dishes or riding my bike.
History has also proven a rich source of ideas.
BRoP: How
do you deal with writer’s block?
KT: When I get writer’s block, it’s usually my
subconscious telling me that something in the story isn't working. So I break
it down: what about this story turns me off, and why? It can take a long time
to figure out what’s wrong, but when I do, it’s such a sense of relief! In the
interim, I have to get away from the keyboard. Getting out of the house and
getting my body moving is essential.
BRoP: How
do you develop plots and characters?
KT: Both plots and characters usually start as
a lightning flash: a single image or feeling that sticks in my mind. From
there, it’s asking lots and lots of questions of myself. Every answer results
in even more questions. As I play this
back-and-forth game, details start to gel and accumulate. Do this long enough,
and you’ve got a plot and/or character on your hands.
BRoP: Are
you a “plotter” or a “pantser”?
KT: I consider myself a loose outliner. I can’t
just dive into a story with no plan, but I don’t plot each scene to the
minutest details either. It’s kind of like having a roadmap: I know my starting
and my destination, several major landmarks along the way, and a rough idea of
the route in between. That approach gives me the structure I need to feel
comfortable, but also allows space for intuitive leaps and diversions.
BRoP: Do
you use critique partners or beta readers? Why or why not?
KT: I use beta readers. I love my beta readers.
They spot things that I won’t, because they’re engaging with the story as
readers, whereas I’ll always be partly in the mindset of “author.”
Some
of my beta readers are brilliant at analyzing character; others, picking
sentences apart. Their strengths are all different than mine. If they’re kind
enough to lend me their time, I’m happy to learn from them!
The
Apocalypse has come, and in seven days the world will be no more.
Only the Hapax, the Word which began the
universe, can recreate the world and avert the Apocalypse, but that Word has
been lost. Brother Gaelin finds his faith crumbling as he is forced to shelter two
fugitives from the Magistatiem, the college of magi which has been divorced
from the Ecclesiat monks for centuries.
As time slips away, the monks and magi must
do more than just heal the ancient rift that divides them—they must trust in
the very Being who drove them apart.
Buy/Book Links
Hapax
is available in print, e-book, and podcast forms.
The Blog Ring of Power (BRoP) is a consortium of five speculative fiction writers who have banded together to bring you highlights from the current speculative fiction market--news, reviews, and interviews with speculative fiction authors--with an emphasis on small-press and self-published authors. So grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and relax. Have we got a story for you...
I'm the say as you - I start with flashes/ideas and develop from there, writers' block means something isn't working, and I love my CPs and betas! :-)
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