About Mick Sylvestre:
Mick C. Sylvestre writes various forms of fiction and lives in supernatural British Columbia, Canada. His spends most of his time watching various movies, reading, painting, designing fonts and working a full-time graphic designer. Currently he is working on an epic science fiction eBook called “The Dragon Emissary”, and a gripping ghost story called “Jonah the Wolf”.
He also is a fan of various fictional and nonfiction writers. Like Stephen King, Martin Cruz Smith, Clive Barker, Joe Hill, Colin Wilson, Piers Anthony, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Mary Roach, and even creative directors like Joss Whedon.
What inspires you to write?
I love to write probably for the same reason I love to anything creative, I love doing something both inspirational and entertaining.
Tell us about your writing process.
Often enough I get my ideas from dreams (nightmares) or just from reading topics and or subject matters occurring in the world. Because I love delving into so many different social matters, and have various interests in current or past events, I find it seeping its way into my stories. I stopped listening to music and the television when I write. I dedicate at most ten pages a chapter, and it all must be relevant and move the story along. In a busy world full of constant distractions you need to get the reading moving along with a gripping and or involved story. Once I get to where I am finished (sometimes I need someone to say end it there or I’ll keep writing), I’ll take a break and start the outline of each individual chapter. Breaking down my chapter or what’s going on, who’s is doing or saying what and a list of character’s involved in the story. This is so I can refer to it when I find a flaw in the armor or a weakness in the story. After that, a close friend helps me proofread and together we trim the story for another outline. After that I seek out an editor and it becomes a 3rd and final draft.
One thing I’ll add is that I like the format setup before I start to write. Not after.
If I have a format laid out and it works well with the story and the flow, I keep it to the very end.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
When I started to write my first novel it felt like I was in a theater, watching events unfold and knowing the lives of every character. It was engrossing. Now I still see them filling out the story, but not like the way they had in the beginning. They seem more like you’re a director and the characters are actors in an important scene.
What advice would you give other writers?
What I tell others interested in writing is to make sacrifices and just do it. You have an incredible amount of information and tools at your fingertips, so use everything to your advantage. Invest the time to develop your skill sets and remember that it’s all about rewriting, and that sometimes you must kill your darlings. If you finish your story, put it aside and write another one, before you go back to your first one. You’ll see how much you’ve developed and how much you’ll need to fix.
Also, read about how to write, character development, grammar, practice and hone your skills, be self-critical, be smart and logical towards your work and others in the same field. Don’t be whimsical and just give your work away unless you don’t want to make a career out of it.
Above all, be professional, don’t be a troll to others.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
There are three piles in the top New York publishers, the slush pile, the established, and the newbie up and comings. Sometimes the novices go undiscovered, or they barely get on the publisher’s radar. So if you submit your work, and they decide you’re not worth the investment, your career is done before it has even started. Now with self-publishing it’s gaining recognition, and steam you have an advantage. As a writer you can do it independently. So if your readership is notably high, you can attract a publisher and or an agent to take you more seriously.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
It’s ever changing, but it what’s more it’s showing how saturated and undervalued owing to the glut of indie and novice writers springing up and pushing their work.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer
What genres do you write?: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Dark Fiction
What formats are your books in?: eBook
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All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit, to allow you, the reader, to hear the author in their own voice.
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