Cold in Gardez interview is up! · 11:12am Oct 26th, 2014
Alright. It's been five months since my interview with Horizon. About time I got another one out.
Might be a while until I get the next interview out though. I'm the music director for a a volunteer educational musical for kids, and that will eat up half of every weekend for the next few months. I'm also going to participate in National Novel Writing Month, to try and finally get this fanfic written. I've been thinking about it for months. I have one chapter of it done already. You can read it here if you like. I won't publish to fimfiction until I have the whole thing written.
So yeah, won't have much time for interviews in the next couple months. Also, there's my job. Sort of important.
Anyway, here's the interview I did with Cold in Gardez! :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tyY-0zDkFw&feature=youtu.be
Go read Cold in Gardez's stories! They rock! He would particularly like if you read his dramas, like "For Whom We Are Hungry", which can be found here - http://www.fimfiction.net/story/198843/for-whom-we-are-hungry
If you want to improve your writing, Cold in Gardez suggests reading these books about the artform!
"Building Great Sentences: How to Write the Kinds of Sentences You Love to Read" by Brooks Landon
http://www.amazon.com/Building-Great-Sentences-Write-Courses/dp/0452298601/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413857342&sr=8-1&keywords=building+great+sentences
"Conflict and Suspence" by James Scott Bell
http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Fiction-Writing-Conflict-Suspense/dp/159963273X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413857408&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=Conflict+and+Suspsence
"Story Structure Architect" by Victoria Schmidt
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Structure-Architect-Situations-Compelling/dp/1582973253/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413857451&sr=8-1&keywords=story+structure+architect
"Characters and Viewpoint," by Orson Scott Card
http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Fiction-Writing-Characters-award-winning/dp/1599632128/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413857479&sr=8-1&keywords=Characters+and+viewpoint
"Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer" by Roy Clark
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Tools-Essential-Strategies-Writer/dp/0316014990/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413857504&sr=8-1&keywords=writing+tools
"On Writing" by Stephen King
http://www.amazon.com/On-Writing-Anniversary-Edition-Memoir/dp/1439156816/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413857547&sr=8-1&keywords=on+writing
Timestamps! Woo! Wait is timestamps the right word i dunno whatev~
1:00 - What kind of stuff did you write before you joined the fandom?
2:05 - What particular works opened your eyes to what the fandom is capable of?
4:07 - How do you go about developing your writing skill?
5:37 - What books in particular would you recommend for learning how to write better?
6:47 - How does experimentation play into improving your writing skill?
8:47 - Which of your old stories are you especially proud of?
9:55 - Don't you like your comedies?
10:49 - How do you nail those character personalities so well?
13:17 - Do you have an OC?
13:40 - Where'd you get the ideas for your worldbuilding regarding the pegasi?
17:14 - Where do you get your inspiration in general?
18:27 - Sample of The Glass Blower original writing style
19:35 - What did your reviewers say about that attempt at Victorian, purple writing?
21:17 - In Victorian literature, characters talk too poetically. Their dialogue never feels real. Do you see that as a flaw in the style?
22:29 - Was "The First Light of Dawn" your first time ever writing a long story?
23:10 - How did you find the experience of writing a long story for the first time?
24:02 - What kind of problems did you face that you don't have to deal with when writing short stories?
25:47 - Seems like the writing for "The Wind Thief" went smoothly.
27:02 - Did everything become easier as you wrote your second novel?
27:31 - It's been two years since you posted the first chapter of Salvation, and it's still not done...
29:31 - When you started your project of expanding Salvation, how long did you see it becoming?
30:10 - On using editors to chop your writing down to size.
32:11 - Was Salvation your first time writing something so structurally loose?
34:05 - Was it difficult to write something that focused so heavily on characters instead of action?
35:00 - Will we be seeing more stuff in the vein of Salvation?
35:32 - Will we ever get the sequel to "The First Light of Dawn"?
36:23 - What about the sequel to "The Wind Thief"?
37:32 - Is there anything you want to say to your fans?
If you are interested in the interview Cold in Gardez did with the Royal Canterlot Library about his story, "Lost Cities", You can find it here - http://royalcanterlotlibrary.net/2014/02/07/cold-in-gardez-lost-cities/
Sweet, new interview!
Good luck with NaNo — it's a lot of work, but it can be awfully rewarding, and whether or not you reach 50K it will teach you a lot about your writing.
Congrats on another great interview. These are always worth waiting for.
Finally getting a chance to listen — oh, sweet stars, that first-draft Glass Blower excerpt is hilarious.
2556328 Thanks! My brother and I decided to get a headstart on it... and I've already given up on the goal of 50,000 words, though I'm still going to write as much as possible. I spent far too much time the last couple days just staring at the screen and editing the words I already had down, instead of writing new ones. My brother advises me to focus on producing "word vomit" that I can then mop up later into some semblance of proper prose. Sound advice. My brain refuses to follow it. -_(\ I can strongarm my brain a little closer to that ideal, though, by writing with pencil and paper... but I feel like such a barbarian, using such methods! Not since high school have I been reduced to such primitive scratchings of mineral upon pulped wood! But since barbaric writing is more productive, I suppose I must. For the fanfic.
2557130 I'm glad you enjoy them! :D
2561565 I only saw it as elegant before, but now that you mention it, yeah, it kinda is xD
2561596
As a several-time NaNo finisher, I can guarantee you that finishing will require you to give yourself permission to write word vomit. You can get on a good burst of inspiration and write (maybe) 20,000 that you're happy with, but you can't do 50,000 while going back and making them better, because the first time you get bogged down in that sort of editing, you lose all your momentum.
Try Write Or Die sometime. It's eye-opening.
NaNo is about squirting out crap that you're ashamed of, but the process teaches you what you're capable of under pressure, and how much to indulge your inner editor, vs. how much to shut them up and trust your muse. It's worth doing for the experience of looking back on 50,000 words of word vomit and assessing exactly how much worse it is than the stuff you're proud of.
2561620 whoa... I'm looking at the Write or Die thing. I never realized creative writing was so... extreme! I've gone skiing, I've gone whitewater rafting, I've jumped from twenty foot cliffs into water (keep your legs closed!) But this... omg. Physical daredevils know not the true meaning of guts.
I'll definitely use this Write or Die thing. Thanks a lot!
If you never hear from me again, know that I died a creative death. One cannot ask for more.