About R.C. Dickens:
I am a black, trans masc ghostwriter, author, choreographer, Webby Award winner, nerd and overall disaster based in West NC, currently dreaming of moving to the West Coast. I've ghostwritten over 30 books and in 2024 I published by debut novel Crown of Blooms, a queer YA coming of age story. I write literary fiction, romance, horror, and fantasy.
What inspires you to write?
For me, writing is compulsive. It's something I have to do to survive. Writing is how I make sense of myself, others, the world I love in. Without it, I'm lost. I think I initially fell in love with writing as a means of escapism. When my life was too difficult to live, writing let me enter a world where I had control, where my fantasies could be made into something tangible, something I could share with others. As far as where I get inspiration for stories, I'm heavily inspired by music. I'm also a very visual person so a lot of my stories are based off of single images that I find provocative.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Ellen Hopkins is probably my biggest influence. Her novels are some of the most unique and powerful pieces of YA media I've ever consumed and I highly recommend them to anyone who can stomach the heavy content. Crown of Blooms was also heavily inspired by American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar. I really love how he approached the coming of age novel in this really introspective, blunt, unflinching way.
Tell us about your writing process.
My writing process developed a lot while I was writing my first novel Crown of Blooms. I did a lot of free writing without direction and it made the process pretty long. Nowadays, I'm all about structure and outlining. I start by outlining chapter by chapter, making sure everything follows a basic narrative flow. Then I write my first draft by hand because I feel I think better when I have that tactile input. Once the first draft is complete, I type it up and that's when I do the first round of edits. My first draft is always me telling myself the story and the second is turning that story into something people may actually want to read. From there, I'll let the project rest anywhere from a few days to a few months. I find distance really helps with editing as it gives you a more objective view. Then I do another big edit. This is usually where I'm making big structural changes if I have to, adding scenes, moving things around, cutting plot points. That's about all the editing I can do myself before I need input from others.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I definitely do a lot more listening to my characters. Sometimes my writing process feels voyeuristic in that sense. It's like I'm just entering a room and writing down what I hear. If I can't do that, it's a sign to me that my characters aren't developed enough and I need to go back to the drawing board. However, I also do sometimes talk out loud in a characters voice to get a sense of how their dialogue should flow. It's really helpful for differentiating character voices, though it does make writing in public awkward.
What advice would you give other writers?
You gotta learn the rules before you can break them. Unique is good. Boundary pushing is good. But you can only do that when you understand the basic building blocks of story structure. Research the heros journey and three act structure. Fill out a beat sheet. Do the hard tedious work of forcing a story to fit into a structure and you will learn so much about how good stories are constructed. That doesn't mean you need to be slave to how things have been done before but don't dismiss the wisdom of all the writers who came before you. Also, write the weird thing. Write the stupid thing. Write the silly thing. Not everything has to be the next American novel.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I self published because I'm a debut author and traditional publishing is difficult to get into. I would love to publish traditionally one day but right now, I'm focusing on building my own small fan base and enjoying the creative freedom that comes with being independent. If you're gonna self publish, please be wary of vanity publishers. No one should be asking you for money to publish your book. Also, have a marketing plan ready before you publish and don't be afraid to try new things to get your book in front of people. It's terrifying to put yourself out there but it's worth it to be brave.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think there's gonna be more weird books getting mainstream attention. With booktok and romantasy getting so popular, I think it's only a matter of time until a kinky werewolf shapeshifter romance becomes a NYT best seller.
What genres do you write?: YA, NA, horror, romance, literary, fantasy
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
R.C. Dickens Home Page Link
Your Social Media Links
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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.
