Tara is yet another talented author that responded to my call for authors to interview. Be sure to visit her website: taraingham.com
What inspires your writing?
I find inspiration in a lot of things. Sometimes it starts as a daydream, or an actual dream. Sometimes I just have a sentence in my head and the story grows from there. In the case of my Once I series, it started with my frustration that so often characters will be ‘shy’, but that personality trait will vanish within a matter of chapters. So, I wanted to write a character who was shy/socially awkward and remained that way.
In the greater scheme I’d say I’m inspired by everything and anything. Someone can say something and it’ll give me an idea for a scene, my pets will be playing and inspire a character, I’ll see a picture and it will inspire the setting. There is no single thing that creates inspiration, it is simply the world around me, and can come in any form, at any moment.
What is your process of developing characters?
I develop different characters in different ways, depending on who they are, their importance in the book etc. I’m not sure if you’d have heard of 2D and 3D characters before, but the basic idea is a 2D character is a background character, an extra. They might say a few lines, interact with your main characters from time to time, but all in all they’re unimportant, so their development is only done on a surface level – what do they look like? Do they have specific vocal trends? Where do they reside? You don’t know anything more about their background and family than what is visible immediately. For these, I usually create them as I need them, and keep a rough record of where they are in case I need them again, but little more.
A 3D character is a primary character. Not necessarily a main, but present, important to a degree. These are the characters that are developed, the ones with pasts and personalities, the ones who have nightmares because when they were ten years old they saw an old man hit by a car. These are the characters who are real. For my 3D characters I will mostly know the 2D details about them from the start and build out from there. For my main characters in particular, I will either figure out what they look like or what they do for work, and then go, ‘okay, so this is your basics, this is the story, this is what needs to happen in the story, so who are you? What made you this way? Why?’
I ask the questions to figure out the bones of their past, but they still surprise me sometimes, and usually grow to be more solid the longer they’re present in the story. That’s how you really learn the details of a person, by things they say, memories they bring up. Sometimes, even as the writer, you don’t know things about your characters until you write it, maybe two or three books into a series, but the moment you do, you know it’s right. You know that this thing you didn’t realize about them is indelibly a part of who they are.
Then of course, there’s the actual ‘character development’ that occurs in the course of the story. For that I usually do a bit of research. If a character goes through a trauma I’ll look at the different ways people react to certain traumas, what the recovery process is, stuff like that, but I also consider my individual characters and who they are as people, whether they’re easily affected by certain things, how easily influenced they are. I think a lot of successfully developing your characters in a reactive sense is understanding people and how different personalities tick. People watching can be great for figuring that out.
Did you Start with a story outline or did you make it up as you went along?
I am a notorious pantser! Every story I have ever written has had the barest of bare bones planning to begin with. Hell, the first trilogy I ever wrote (unpublished) started from a single sentence playing through my mind. So I usually start with nothing, or near to, and make it up on the fly, but if I’m writing a series I usually have a pretty good idea of the plot by book 2, and not just for the second book, but the entire series. That’s when I actually start outlining and figuring out key scenes.
That being said, I write in sequence, so, start to finish. That’s not how all writers work, so for me I can do that. I’m able to let the story develop as it wants to because I haven’t written the ending yet, so I have a lot more flexibility to change the plot and themes as I go than someone who outlines the entire story from the get-go.
How much research did you need for your story?
It’s hard to say, really. I don’t tend to do my research before I start, I do it on an as-need basis. But given my Once I books are set in a mostly urban, real-world setting, I didn’t have to do too much beyond the foundations. I created my revenants (the primary species in my novel) entirely based on the role I wanted them to play, so beyond researching to confirm the word ‘revenant’ actually fit what I was making, that was all the research I really did for that. Otherwise it was little things here and there: What kind of car do police drive in this city? What does the inside of a morgue look like? What’s the difference between a druid and a magician? Street map of XYZ town? Nothing too in depth. There is a degree of freedom in working within a world you know and understand.
All that being said, for my current work in progress, I am having to research everything! I’ve moved into a medieval setting for my new series, and as such there’s all sorts of ancient technologies I don’t understand, and all sorts of things I never considered, like the practicality of torches Vs candles. Stuff like that.
What researching methods did you use?
I am a google nut. I google everything, cross check my sources with other sources and take as many notes and screen grabs as I can. When I can’t find what I need on the internet (yes, that does happen) I hit up the local library, or check the handful of guides and encyclopedias I have at home. And if all else fails, I either look for experts to ask, ask other writers, or I just make it up.
What were some of your methods for handling worldbuilding?
World building is HARD. No two ways about it. It is a difficult process, a raging headache and a pain in the butt. When I’m working in an urban setting it’s easier because I can refer to real world maps, or google real world examples of settings, real world cultures and languages. It certainly makes it less daunting. But when I’m working in a ‘fantasy’ setting, that’s when things get tricky. The first thing I usually do is sit down and draw a rough map, that way I can figure out where I am. I’ll usually just sketch a random shape, put in some boundaries, close my eyes and jab at a random spot, and that’s where my story starts. From there, I’ll give each realm etc. a name that I pull out of thin air that sort of sounds like it matches the rest. After that, it’s a case of figuring out the needs the story has for the setting. So I consider what the people are like, what their culture is like and create an urban structure that reflects that (barbarians in caves, monarchs in stone castles, warrior clans in small clay huts etc.). I take a bit of time to figure out which borders are friendly, which are hostile, how much of the world my characters know about and have interacted with.
These sort of things determine how much I develop realms/kingdoms etc. outside of my primary setting.
I also consider languages and whether they all speak a single language or if there are multiple spoken, whether I need to actually create these languages (which is another raging headache), or whether I can just glaze over them.
Another thing I try to figure out is how this world came to be, and what their beliefs and legends around this are. Oftentimes the history of the world determines the theology – religious beliefs – and so it’s pretty important to understand in terms of determining your characters’ morals etc.
Did you draw on personal experience?
I try not to rely too heavily on my personal experience, but for some things, yes, I did and do. For example, my main character in my Once I series has anxiety, is socially awkward, and that is something I know very well. That is my life experience. I am an awkward person, an introvert, generally uncomfortable, so it was easier to write those traits in her if I considered my experience with them. Outside of that, writing fantasy does make drawing on personal experience a bit tricky at times, especially when your characters interpersonal relationships and personal experiences are so vastly different from your own.
How did your publish?
In this instance I accepted a contribution based contract with a publishing house (not quite self-publishing, not quite traditional either).
Why did you do it that way?
I chose to go the route of a contribution based contract purely because I am way too busy to self publish. There’s a lot of running around involved in getting a book ready to publish.
I’m currently looking for an agent for my new series, so if that pans out my next series should be traditionally published.
How long did it take to land representation?
That depends on if we’re talking from the early days of my first series or just for my Once I series. From my earliest attempts at being published, I’d say about 5-6 years, from the time I started looking at the Once I series being published, around 6 months to a year. I wasn’t in any particular rush, and being a contribution based situation it didn’t take as long as it could have.
I’ve only just started looking for reps for my new series this month, so it will be interesting to see how long it takes actively looking for a traditional publisher.
Who did your cover and marketing?
My cover was created by my publisher, so I’m not exactly sure of the name of the person who did it.
As for marketing, my publisher does some, they provide my marketing materials and share news about my book, but I also do a lot myself.
What are some of the methods you have used to generate interest in your book?
I have a couple of social media pages and I have my website, so in terms of passively generating interest, I’ve found those useful, especially since I offer free shorts not included in my books on my website. Outside of that, I had a book launch, contact a few local papers and let them know I was publishing, I’m in contact with my local libraries and they invite me to attend events from time to time.
The method I’ve found to be most useful, however, is actually attending conventions and writers events. These sort of things put you in contact with people who would never likely have a way to hear of you or your work, and gives them the opportunity to actually buy your books on the day. So a lot of my readers have come from events like that, and because they read and enjoy the books, they tell people about them, and so on so forth.
Did you use beta readers? How did you secure them?
I have a couple of friends who I have beta read for me. I know a lot of people don’t think having your friends beta read is a good idea, but in this instance my friends are avid readers and brutally honest in their feedback, so I can trust them pretty well.
What was the process you used to develop your magic system and how your characters use it?
I basically set out a set of rules for how magic is generated and the things it can do. I also set out a pretty strict set of rules for how it can’t be used.
It’s very easy to just shout ‘magic’ when you’re struggling to come up with a solution, which is why limitations are important. Also, it would be pretty ridiculous if your characters seemed to have limitless abilities and then turned around with ‘oh no, whatever will we do’ for something the examples of magic seem to have been created to solve, so yeah. I set up rules about what can and can’t be done, the reason certain people might have magic while others don’t, and how it affects the person and whether it can be detected.
How many revisions did it take to get a publishable book?
I usually do about 5-7 revisions and edits myself before sending it to my beta readers, then another 2 or 3 after I get it back from them. After that I’m usually comfortable submitting and the editors usually go through another 2 or 3 sets of revisions before we’re all happy to go ahead.
It can be hard to give the go ahead, though, because there’s always going be something missed, something you’re not entirely happy with, but it’s one of those things where you need to be willing to let go eventually.
What aspect of the book writing process did you find the most challenging?
It’s somewhere between the editing and accepting feedback. I don’t know, like, writing is hard, don’t get me wrong, but enjoyable. Editing, well it can be tedious, especially when you’ve read your book a dozen times and just want to look at something new, but then, I prefer that to seeing the harsher things some people have to say. There’s always the ones where you just roll your eyes because their ‘feedback’ demonstrates quite clearly that they haven’t actually read it, but the ones where they pick out certain things, especially when they’re things you’re already uneasy about, they’re hard. It takes the edge off a bit when they behave constructively, balance criticism with encouragement, but the ones who just spit acid and seem to give ‘feedback’ simply because they want to beat you down, that can be hard to swallow.
What are you writing now?
Well, the third novel in the Once I series is currently in production and coming out in 202, but my current WIP is a sword and sorcery style high fantasy. I’m not really willing to share too much at this point, but it’s going to be 5 books, bring across inspiration from one specific character in my Once I series (yes, all of my stories are linked in some way or another, even when they’re on different planets), and it is an entirely different tone to Once I.
What is your advice to other writers?
Keep on writing! It can be really bloody hard, the learning, the criticism, the whole bit, You’ll lose confidence in yourself, then gain in back, think your work is the best then the worst. Remember, none of that actually matters. If you write for the love of telling the story, that’s what matters.
Something I always tell people when they say they want to be a writer is simply this: It is the duty of the writer to take reality and translate it into a context that everyone can understand.
So keep on taking reality and translating it for the world to read.
