Interview with horror and fantasy writer Christopher Ruz
‘Look for people who are one or two stages ahead of where you’re at.’
Episode 64 – Christopher Ruz – Show Notes
- Doesn’t know how to write short stories any more.
- Tries to write every day – most productive when writing every day
- Rituals – encasing in a bubble, getting rid of visual distraction and white noise.
- Pomodoro method – 100 words every 5 minutes.
- Themes – horror-based but fantasy and sci-fi. But also spy fiction
- A narrow focus on character – even with epic fantasy using a single narrator.
- Using a single narrator to create tension with a timeline
- Finding a group of writers who were better than him
- Penny Arcade, Discord, Reddit, Twitter
- Dictation in the car with a lapel mic
- Cormac McCarthy, Emma Osborne, NK Jemesin, James SA Corey
- China Mieville and Joe Hill – horror short stories
- The Ragged Blade – epic fantasy – inspired by a vivid dream – started as a short story
- All These Shiny Worlds
- Working on The Ragged Blade 2 (yet unnamed)
- Originally self-published the first two parts of The Ragged Blade
- The journey from self-published to traditionally published
‘The novel is the lazy form’
‘Every change they recommended made it a better story’
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