About Derek Dollahite:
Derek Dollahite studied Art History so that he could go into Advertising so that he could then write stuff. In WYW, his first book series for young adults, he examines the positive and negative effects of technology and the possibilities created for social change. He lives in Austin, TX with his wife and mischievous dog.
What inspires you to write?
It seems to me that I can’t really know anything without writing it first. Unarticulated ideas are usually very blurry. I write to make those ideas and feelings more detailed, which, in turn, makes them more complex and interesting. Also, unexpected things happen when you write. Ideas you didn’t even have a blurry awareness of suddenly appear on the screen, just like magic.
Tell us about your writing process.
I’ve tried doing all of it…outlining, notecards, timed word vomits. I’m closing in on a first draft for Part 2 of my WYW series and have a very general outline for Part 3, but mostly I just work scene to scene. I’ve found that anything I can do to just trick myself to start writing sentences is worthwhile.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Hmm…in a way I think. I’ll picture them in various situations (that I’m not planning to use in the story) and not so much imagine what they would say, but how they’d act, what their body language would be, what they’d be wearing…all of the nonverbal stuff also deeply informs who a character is.
What advice would you give other writers?
I haven’t really figured much of anything out in either writing or life in general, but I do think this: if a writer writes about the things he or she is interested in and cares about, then the writing itself is the measure of success.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
For this first story, it just seemed more natural to test the waters by self-publishing. I’m still early on in the process…I’ll come back and let you know how it goes.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think both traditional publishing and self-publishing will continue to have their place in the future. It’s great that self-publishing has allowed a bunch of people with stories in their heads to get their work out there, but I also see the value in the curatorial system of publishing houses that can weed out some of the work of poorer quality.
What genres do you write?: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, Literary Fiction
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Derek Dollahite Home Page Link
Link To Derek Dollahite Page On Amazon
