The Creativity Author Interviews

Interview With Dylanmagne

Interview for: Dylanmagne

Interview by: Silmarilz1701
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Thanks so much for putting in for an interview, Dylanmagne! Let's get started.

What inspired you to start putting words on the page? Was it a single moment that got you started, or had it always been in the back of your mind?

I'm not really sure if there was ever a definite inspiration to write as far as outside sources go. I'd always done well in my English arts classes, and I figured, "Hey, maybe I'm good at this?". Eventually I started writing poems and posting them to Wattpad around March of this year, but the definitive "this is it" moment came one night in June. I had been running through various "what if" situations in my head late at night, and I thought, "hey, that would be a pretty good story." And somehow or another, I fell in love with the project that spawned and here I am!

That's so cool! Learning about our own skills is important, and eureka moments make it all that much more fun. What genres do you prefer to write?

After that essay of a response to number one this is going to seem very weak. I prefer to write science-fiction and poetry, though I occasionally dabble in fantasy and historical fiction.

Where do you pull the most inspiration from? TV, movies, books, nature, music, etc?

It's hard to definitively pin down any one source of inspiration, but I have drawn inspiration from Tom Clancy, HP Lovecraft, Tolkien, and History itself (the main antagonist of my first book is inspired by Standard Oil, a company from the 1890s). I distinctly remember drawing heavily from a movie titled "The Siege of Jadotville".  

More generally speaking, I take a great deal of inspiration from classical and popular literature (From Dante Alighieri to Orwell, and from Beowulf to Tolkien), as well as whatever I've read recently. (Recently, HP Lovecraft's essays on poetic meter have made me reassess some of my own poetry.)

Your genres and inspiration are right up my alley. Let's delve into your writing a little more. Do you have a particular work you're especially proud of? If yes, can you tell me why?

Oh boy... I am immensely proud of my novel, "Jack Cabe". It started me off on the road to being an author, and I've put months of my time into building it and refining it. I've fallen in love with my own characters, and I've spent countless hours polishing it into what it is now. They say that you never forget your first, and I can certainly see why.

And what are you working on right now, with the conclusion of "Jack Cabe?"

Currently, I'm working on a sequel to my aforementioned novel, "Jack Cabe". This one is titled "Stanislav Vulkov" and follows closely after the events of the first book, albeit on a much darker line.

Let's look into the first book more, then. Can you tell me about "Jack Cabe"?

Alright, so the original idea for it was kind of stupid but went like this,"What if you took the 1890s and put it in space?" 

From there it managed to evolve into what it is today, which is an epic about a man and his two friends, Valerie and Stanislav. 

Jack and his friends live on a colony on Mars in 2050, and their lives are ruled over by a tyrannical corporation called Aerotec, which is strange mix of Nazi Germany and a large corporation. Long story short, they launch a revolution to forge a better life for themselves and everyone else (sort of like the American dream).

Can you tell me about them? How did your characters come to life? Some people talk about their characters writing themselves, others discover the characters as they write. Can you describe your process? 

Well, I started out with a general idea of how the main characters were going to act, but the entire thing quickly took on a life of its own. I'd sit down to write, and say, "alright, so here's the plan. [lnsert plan here]. How is Jack going to react to this?"

I can't really explain *how* created my characters, but as soon as I started writing them off of a very basic framework (which was literally just a few words like "fierce, independent, etc") they took on a life of their own.

Characters are so funny that way! So you conclude the plot of "Jack Cabe," take a deep breath, and then what? Did you already have the sequel planned? 

As soon as I entered the final stretch of writing for Cabe (around chapter 45 or so) I had an idea of where I wanted the sequel to go, and how I was planning on doing it. After I finished the first book, I decided to take a break before writing the sequel so that I could work on refining it.

Perfect segway, thank you! In this vein of taking a break, do you do anything specific to recharge creatively? Or to push through the dreaded "writer's block?"

I tried a few small competitions and brushed up on my poetry, but mainly I spent this refractory period editing Cabe and compiling ideas for its sequel. As for writers block, I found that it helped to just sit down and try to write for an hour. Eventually after writing a little bit I'd find some inspiration and manage to finish a chapter. I do feel like pausing for a month between writing did hurt the sequel, because my ideas for it weren't as fresh anymore, but now that I've got back into a groove I feel a lot better about it.

Yeah, I like your approach for writer's block. I find a lot of writers, especially new and/or young writers, give too much weight to this idea of a force acting against the author. Sitting down and forcing yourself to write some is so useful. 

Let's talk about writing in general. Do you see writing as a hobby, or are you hoping to make some money and a career off of it? Would you ever consider writing something completely outside your comfort zone? 

At the moment, writing is a hobby for me, but if I could make a career out of it I would. I love writing and literature, and if you do something that you love, if you can get paid for it that's even better.   

As for writing something completely outside of my comfort zone, I'm willing to try anything once.

And finally, is there any question I haven't asked that you think I should?

I don’t really have any questions that I want asked in particular, so I think that’s it. Thank you for having me, and thank you for your time!

It’s been my pleasure, Dylanmagne! You had such great insights, and I can’t wait to check into your series. For everyone reading this, don’t forget to check out his profile if his genres sound interesting to you. 

Alright, with that, I bid you goodbye until next time!