Meet our guest, author Dean Giles
Where
are you from?
I am from
Othello,Washington, though I have now spent more time in Provo, Utah than I did
in my home town.
Why
do you write?
Why do birds fly and
why do cats meow? Writing has been a part of me since I was young. I have a lot
of interests, and I took notes about what I read as a young man. I have kept a
journal off and on throughout my life. I do a lot of reading, and I love to jot
down my thought and connect the dots about the subjects that interest me. I
hope to be able to help and entertain others with my writing.
What
inspired you to write your first book?
My family and I wrote a
children’s book. It was something that I had wanted to do for a long time. We
talked about it, and just decided to do it one day. It took longer than I
expected, but I was very pleased with the outcome.
What
genre do you typically write?
I usually write
informational books about a number of topics that I have studied over a number of
years. I really enjoy writing about creativity and writing.
Do
you feel like you have a specific writing style?
I try to make my style
informative and entertaining. I try to mix in step-by-step instructions with
examples and stories to keep the information relevant and enjoyable.
How
long does it usually take you to write a book?
I have been able to
write a book in under one month, but I like taking a few months on a book—that
gives me some time to rewrite and reorganize until I feel that I have the flow
and purpose that I have intended.
What
do you do to conquer writer’s block?
I’ve never experienced
writers block. I have rewritten portions of my book more times than I want to
admit, and I usually have too many things that I want to include, and have to
trim and leave out sections because I don’t like the flow.
But, if I come to a
point that I am not sure what should go next, or what I really want to express,
then I take out my notes, and the books that I read getting ready for the one
that I am writing. I reread the table of contents of the first one that I pick
up, restructuring each line into questions about my topic, and the ideas just
start to pop.
I write down as many
ideas that these lines suggest, then see if I have already touched on those ideas.
I finally start drawing up my own index, or “table of contents” using the new
ideas and only start weeding out what I don’t want as I get into the writing.
What
can you tell us about your favorite character from your book?
I like the characters
of Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, and Dumbledore from Harry Potter. I found a
similarity about them, but the characteristic that I liked the most is that
they could see the potential hidden deep within the faults and unassuming
exteriors of the major players in stories that they were involved in. I like to
think that everyone has those hidden talents and values that can be coaxed out by
a mentor or friend that make the biggest
Who
is your favorite author and what is it about them that inspires you?
My favorite author is
Brandon Sanderson. He is a magician. He diverts your attention in such a way
that you are drawn to incorrect assumptions, then blown away by the real
answers to the dilemmas that his characters face—and then you realize that he
has foreshadowed the events and the revelations throughout the entire book, you
just didn’t see it until he revealed the whole picture in the final
resolutions.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Keep writing. Write
every day. Get it down on paper, clean it up and get it edited, but let it go.
It will never be perfect, just let it go.
Dean Giles has written a number of books, a couple of which spent some time as Amazon #1 Best Sellers in their categories. He has broad experience in technical writing, project management,
Dean Giles has written a number of books, a couple of which spent some time as Amazon #1 Best Sellers in their categories. He has broad experience in technical writing, project management,
No comments:
Post a Comment