For this week, I decided to take to Twitter, and answer five questions from the popular hashtag #AskAuthor. Keep in mind these will be my opinion only. I’ll try to answer to the best of my abilities, but it will be just that. My opinion. Which you might agree with, and you might not. It’s fine.

Q.1 What are you reading right now, and how is it impacting your writing?

I’ve actually just finished reading “Paladin” by Sally Slater, which has been a phenomenal read to be honest. I’ve finished that book in 2 days and it left me wanting more. To be honest, had I not finished writing Dragon Tooth, I would not have read it (whenever I’m writing a specific genre, I don’t like to read anything related as to not have my mind be affected by the tiniest bits). While it was just an incredible read in something that I found very interesting (the politics, the choices… the characters seemed all too real) and I had a little taste how it feels to kill a character from the other side (my oh my, how pissed I was!).

Q.2 How do you come up with a title for your book?

Well, some writers really struggle when it comes to coming up with a title for their book, but I don’t, honestly. You just gotta relax and let it flow, write, write and write. The title will come to you eventually. It might be just as you finished writing it, or sometimes even before you started it. When it came to Secret of the Moonlight(which you can read for FREE on Wattpad!) for example, the title was ready way before I wrote even a sentence. While Dragon Tooth, came to me when I finished the first chapter. Remember, your title has to be unique and catchy. Something that grabs attention. Try to also avoid silly names or parodying another popular book… for example (Throne of Games). Always remember to Google your title, before settling on it.

Q.3 When writing a novel, do you first make an outline? If so, do you stick to it? 

 I find that an outline definitely helps me power through anything I write because ultimately I know where I’m going. But even when that sometimes can be too restrictive, I don’t feel burdened by it so occasionally, I might change a few details here and there as I’m writing (if it makes total sense, and not just because I want to change something) but I would say I stick to the outline about 85% of the time. I’ve had a lot of instances where I wanted to reverse something, but I just fought the urge because I knew that everything that happened was playing to a bigger end. It’s much more easier to create a well founded story, rich with twists from the planning board.

Q.4 Is Blogging Still Relevant for Writers and Authors?

 Absolutely, blogging I think is a very important aspect and step in building a readership and have somewhere that anyone can go back to the writer and read more from him. It means a lot to readers actually, and almost every famous and established writer does this (George R R Martins as well!).

Q.5 A few beta-readers keep suggesting to change particular scenes in my novel and I’m not sure what to do…

It’s very important to listen to your beta readers, but also to know who to approach. Someone who reads non-fiction would give you horrible advice when it comes to fiction for example. You gotta ensure that the beta reader is actually a fanatic of the genre you are going into. But still, it generally means something no matter what. The best advice I can give regarding this will be in the form of a quote by Neil Gaiman “When people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”

That’s it for this post, if you’d like to see more questions, feel free to throw them at me at m@infrangilis.com or simply leave a comment. I plan on doing this a bit more frequently.

Until next time,
Write on.