Frank’s Interview with author Tricia Goyer
Frank’s Interview With Tricia Goyer: author of From Dust and Ashes, Night Song, Dawn of a Thousand Nights, and Arms of Deliverance. Whether you’re a reader or a writer, this you’ll enjoy:
http://www.triciagoyer.com
http://www.triciagoyer.blogspot.com
Writers have different motivations. What is it that drives you?
My brand is Reflecting Reality, Honoring Truth. That is my motivation for writing too. My desire for my fiction is to reflect the reality of history—to bring it to life for readers. I also desire to honor the truth of the experiences men and women during WWII . . . and Truth, who is Christ.
To do this, I not only research through books or on the Internet, I also interview the men and women who were there. And I tie spiritual threads throughout the books, which don’t focus on religion, but rather the relationship with Jesus Christ in individual lives.
You’re married with three children, so how do you find quiet-time to write?
There is NO quiet-time to write, since I also homeschool my kids. They are around 24/7. I’ve trained myself to write without quiet time. We have one big homeschooling room/office. When my kids are working on their homework, I’m working on mine in the same room. I can be crying my eyes out, writing an emotional scene, and then I have to stop to help with a multiplication problem! Yet God blesses me as I serve Him in both of these areas.
To be able to write, I use advice given to me by my writer-friend Anne de Graaf, “Do the next thing.” The next thing may be to write a description, to research a scene, or to write 2,000 words for that day. Or it may be to read a story with one of my kids or to set up a homework schedule. These small steps keep me plugging forward, and helps me not to get overwhelmed. If I tried to think of the whole book at once (or thirteen years of education!), then I’d probably freeze up. But I can do one little part at this moment.
And even I don’t have quiet time to write, I do take time for quiet time with my Bible and prayer book every day. I wake up at least an hour before everyone else and spend time with God. This is my priority, and this too transforms my writing.
Apart from interviewing WW-II veterans while writing this series, tell me about your creative method. Do you work from a writer’s notebook?
The first thing I do is get an overview on the time in history. I read some general books and figure out a basic timeline for the story based on historical events.
After that, I weave my characters within the timeline, and then I start specific research. This is when I start interview people who were there.
On each of these levels, I have WORD documents on my computer. Or I’ve recently started using a program called One Note. I have different files for timeline, characters, description, conflict, etc. Each of these have different title files.
Then, once I have the research about 2/3 finished, I start writing. I open a document and plug in my research according to how I will need it.
Then, I start writing.
War and Christian fiction seem like contradictory terms. Did you struggle with moral issues while writing Arms of Deliverance, or was Hitler vs the Allies too black & white?
Hitler vs. the Allies is the general conflict of the book, but I also have more specific conflicts within each of the characters. Each one has their personal goals, motivations, and vices. These are not cardboard people. My “good guys” have personal struggles, and my bad guys aren’t 100% bad. Even with my Nazi officer, I try to get into his head to provide motivations for why he does what he does—not always moral motivations, but motivations all the same.
So in essence war and Christian fiction are not contradictory. The Christian aspects of my novels deal with the people who are involved within the war.
Most women stayed home for WW-II, but your main characters, Mary and Lee, are both war-correspondents. Is your intended audience women?
I would say that most of my audience is women, but I also have a lot of male readers too. In addition to Mary and Lee’s point-of-view, the story is also told from the point-of-views of Eddie, a B-17 Navigator, and Hendrick, a Nazi officer.
My favorite male readers are the WWII veterans I’ve interviewed, of course. Here is what one of them said:
It was a fascinating pleasure to watch the development of the author’s courageous young reporter. The description of airbase activities and flight in a B-17 bomber out of Bassingbourn, England brought back poignant memories of my personal wartime experiences.
I too flew with the 91st Bomb Group out of Bassingbourn as a Pathfinder Navigator. The descriptions of flight conditions are thought-provoking and accurate. Further, the author has pieced together an intriguing story with different segments. She skillfully guides the reader through peaks and valleys of why we fought, the struggle to win, nail-biting suspense, divine guidance, and . . . sweet victory.
Tricia Goyer has effectively captured the robust ‘Can Do’ spirit of World War II.
~~ John Howland
Pathfinder Navigator
91st Bomb Group
Is there a feminist message in Arms of Deliverance?
I suppose all of WWII could be considered “feminist” in nature, not out of rebellion, but out of necessity. Women were forced to do the jobs of men, as their husbands, boyfriends, and brothers went off to war. My characters are no different. They use this opportunity to excel in jobs once only held by men. They struggled in these roles, and as my novel shows, some choose to continue with their careers while others return to more traditional roles.
This is your fourth and final book in this series; are you looking forward to a new project?
Yes, I’m currently working on a three book series on The Spanish Civil War. This war took place in Spain right before WWII. Hitler and Mussolini supported Franco and the Rebels. Russia and International Brigades from all over the world supported the Spanish people and their elected government. The first book, A Valley of Betrayal, (which I’m still writing!) will be out February 2007 . . . so I’ve been deep in the heart of Spain in my writing world.
I don’t believe in luck, so I’ll wish you His will. Where can we pick up a copy of Arms of Deliverance?
Arms of Deliverance is available at local Christian bookstores or at on-line bookstores such as Amazon.com. You can find out more at http://www.triciagoyer.com
Thanks so much!
Thanks for the interview!
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Check out Tricia’s new release Arms of Deliverance at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802415563/ref=cm_arms_pdp_dp/102-3823501-9095348?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155
Plot Synopsis:
The fourth and final novel in this exhilarating series capturing the tales of men and women swept into World War II. Two friends, Mary and Lee, land similar reporting jobs at the New York Tribune on the eve of the war’s outbreak and soon they become competitors. Mary’s coverage of a bombing raid over Germany leads to a plane wreck and an adventurous escape attempt from across enemy lines. And when Lee hears of Mary’s plight, she bravely heads to war-torn Europe in an effort to help rescue her friend. Will there be enough time for diplomacy or will war get the best of everyone?
There’s No Such Thing as Writer’s Block!
Donna Conger, author of Forgotten, had this to say about “Fiction Outlines,” my previous blog article:
“Frank,
Great blog. Good information. For me, an outline is extremely
necessary, because it helps me keep the story organized. It shows me
where I’m repeating myself, where the story is contrived, etc. Often,
when I’m writing an outline, I get so deep into the story and
characterization that I start writing actual dialogue and mixing it
with the chapter synopsis. When that happens, I get a much stronger
handle on the whole project. I remember the story better, so that
when I don’t get the chance to work on it, it’s still with me quite
strongly.”
For those who outline in depth, Donna’s method must be a wonderful tool. Such a detailed outline would mesh well with the subconscious mind for creative inspiration. Because of a mental handicap that cripples my short-term memory, I’m stuck with re-reading pages of notes plus my chapter-in-progress in order to “tune-back-in”. My own inspiration only comes either in light-bulbs throughout the day (that I scribble down and transfer into my three-ring-binder), or, more
productively, as my left-brain is running SO full throttle that I can’t type fast enough to capture all my thoughts.
Reflecting upon Donna’s technique brought back a conversation that my father (who was also a writer), and I had years ago. He’d been experiencing a period of writer’s block. As he lamented about his problem, it occurred to me that because I’m so used to troubleshooting ways around my mental condition, I’d been manhandling writer’s block for well over a year!
This was my e-mail reply to Donna:
“I’ve experienced that detailed kind of hyper-outlining before, but this topic leads into my definition of writer’s block. I don’t believe in it. Creative writing is left brain stuff. If I find myself sliding into creativity, I open my WIP and go-to-it. When word-count refuses to turn a phrase, that means my right brain is switched “on”. That’s when I work on my marketing plan or pull out my writer’s notebook and organize thoughts.”
A writer’s best quantitative standard of productivity is word-count; we set goals and we record daily figures. Then we get so focused on this single unit of measurement that we forget about less quantitative
aspects of the craft. Those one or two thousand words are our eight-days-a-week mandatory discipline; but what about e-mail, research and critiquing? I once read that there are other spheres of life beyond
writing: like enjoying family, community, worship and creation around us. It’s so easy to get caught-up. Balance your spheres, and engage yourself in His moment’s gift.”
We who escape into our craft are not unlike junkies; once we admit our problem we can balance our lives. Once we balance our live’s spheres, we’re living as He’d intended. –Frank Creed
CREDITS:
Thanks to my guest quotationist:
Donna Conger
http://www.donnaconger.com
I urge anyone who questions whether or not true love exists to read
Forgotten. You will know it is alive and well. –Janet Elaine Smith
http://janet_elaine_smith0.tripod.com/
Fiction Outlines
My last blog article detailed the categories into which I’ve broken down my own three-ring-binder writer’s notebook. It finished with thoughts about a tab I call “SEQUEL NOTES” but what happens when a sequel graduates to a WIP?
Jan recently asked the following questions:
“Just curious…. I realize some writers never use outlines, but I’m
trying to get various viewpoints on them to make some decisions….
So, if you use an outline, what format do you use? Basic roman
numerals? Topical? Do you outline chapter by chapter? Outline the
entire book before you write? Outline a chapter, then write it?
Outlining was recommended to me, and as a former English teacher, I
definitely see the benefit. BUT when I tried it for my novel, I found
I ended up changing stuff as I got more involved with my character’s
lives…. Just looking for other opinions, I guess. Thanks, Jan”
This is like a painter asking if it’s better to use watercolors, acrylics, or oils. In the arts there is no shortest route between two points, and each artist will develop their own techniques. There are writers who can only work from a strict outline and others whose creativity would be stifled by this technique. While I myself lean more toward the latter variety, my WIP has proven to be a real organizational challenge, teaching me lessons from which any writer might benefit.
To preface Jan’s questions, I first need to define the braided novel. While writing Flashpoint, my own comfortable method of thought-organization worked very seat-of-the-pants-informally-functional. That story is very linear and straightforward. But that was then and this is now.
I’m writing its sequel in a form of which I first discovered while reading Michael Stackpole’s afterword from his novel Wolf and Raven. An anthology, as we all know, is a collection of short fiction. A braided novel is different in that it’s a series of shorts revolving around the same main characters and occur chronologically with each story building on the history of its predecessor. The functional beauty of a braided novel is that each freestanding short can be individually marketed before completing and compiling the stories into a single work. I fell in love with Wolf and Raven because it’s told in the same first-person sarcasm as Flashpoint, but I fell in love with Stackpole’s braided novel form because of its pragmatism.
For a mentally handicapped closed-head-injury victim like myself, keeping story threads alive and organized throughout seven (planned), shorts of a braided novel called for a level of outline complexity that I’d never before required. Because my writer’s notebook is of ye olde fashioned pencil and paper variety, Roman numerals are too rigidly unforgiving: while my characters and setting are fairly concrete, I’m a firm believer in letting a story tell itself. This means I have too many new ideas as I write, and my plot development must remain very fluid.
Flashpoint’s jagged notes scribbled scene by scene. I added chapter breaks later, always at action’s peak in order to create a page-turner effect. But, because a braided novel’s shorts are told in parts (Part One, Part Two…), this technique cannot be employed.
To sustain this form where each tale had to be supported by its former layer, work had to progress methodically. Before entering into any word-count writing, I motored up the olde speculative binder. I first chose the themes that I wished to include, followed closely by which plot-vehicles I’d use to deliver them. Using one loose-leaf notebook page for each story, I gleaned details from my notes on scene ideas, concepts and snappy lines then fleshed out the first details. I gave each short a working title, and listed them in a table of contents, for a quick organizational overview reference and major notations.
With this framework in place, it came time to plug-in the threads that I wanted to chronologically develop throughout the stories. Because this is a sequel, a solid cast of characters already existed, and over the years I’d worked up a few new character profiles. This is where I got to cheat a bit, because I already had ideas on how to develop characters with whom I was intimate. In my humble opinion, the most important element of any tale is its characters. They are the beginning point. You can have the best plot ever, but if your characters fall flat, I’m shelving the story. Conversely, if I care about strong characters in an ugly plot, I’ll keep turning pages. My five threads all dealt with character/ relationship development (a real shocker, I know). For easy reference, I listed a thread index on a separate sheet, and assigned each thread a capital letter. On those seven story pages I tracked each thread with its corresponding letter in the left margin.
In the end, every writer’s approach to the art is different. Whatever is right for you is a mantra that fails morally, but preferences are a freedom that we’re all allowed. Each artist must choose the medium and tools that their gift requires. As I’ve said before, every writer’s bag of tricks is of unique cloth but when each of us dumps it out, our work must have detail and depth.
“Trifles go to make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.”–Michelangelo Buonarroti
To God be the glory,
Scott “Frank Creed” Morris
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e-mail: frankcreed@insightbb.com
Home: http://www.frankcreed.com
Blog: http://www.frankcreed.com/blog
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