Psst. Hey, you. Yes, you. I’ve got a secret to tell, but you have to keep it between you and me. I hear that CN are welcoming a new author. His name is Ser J.S and he’ll be releasing a fantasy LitRPG novel called ‘Son of the Night’. I don’t know the full details myself, so I’ve got a quest for you. Go read it and come back with your newfound knowledge. I shall await your return.
Interview:
George Bakerson, marketing interviews Ser J.S on his first novel to be hosted at Creative Novels.
Welcome Ser J.S.! I’m glad you can join us for this interview. First of all, mind telling the readers a bit about yourself?
I am in my twenties and my favorite color is blue. I have had a love for reading ever since I was in Elementary School. I would often get in trouble for reading when I should not have been.
As a teenager, I read Eragon, and when I learned that it was written by Christopher Paolini who at the time was only 18, it greatly inspired me to want to write.
Now, of course, you’ve joined Creative Novels to publish your web-novel, Son of the Night. I’ve heard that it’s an Action, Fantasy, Romance, LitRPG. Is there something that inspired you to write about it?
The main concept behind the story was with me for over 12 years. I had tried writing it two different times but stopped before it got any traction as writing a story is not easy. I was in a slump for some years and then I came upon Legend of the Moonlight Sculptor (LMS) by NAM Heesung and decided to read it. It opened my eyes to LitRPGs, and I have been reading a lot of different LitRPGs ever since.
Were there any difficulties when writing your story and, if so, how did you overcome them? There might be a few aspiring authors amongst our readers that would like your insight.
When I wrote my first story I could not focus on writing due to the internet. So to solve the problem I just turned off my internet ( 😛 ).
Motivation; sometimes I didn’t want to write at all (still don’t sometimes) but I would just say to myself “Just do it!” and then I would sit down and struggle with typing the words. Poof! A large portion of a new chapter would magically appear. More on this in next question.
When I started writing this story, I tried to write a chapter every day but soon burnt out after 7 chapters. For nearly two weeks, I didn’t even want to look at the story. What pulled me back was, I guess, guilt of wasting time and not writing as well as a passion of really wanting to write and share my story with others.
The things to learn from this.
1: You have to know what you are capable of or you will burn out and it may cause you to quit. If you can only write one chapter a week then that is better than none. Set mini goals that you know you can complete so when you achieve them you can feel good about it.
2: Writing about something that you are very passionate about will help you keep writing.
3: Just do it!
Your writing must have developed quite a bit then. Is there a certain quirk or habit you have when writing?
Way too many!
Now that I am writing Son of the night, I have found my own style and I am a bit more focused. I now use a music video on youtube when I am writing called “Taiko drums 10 hours”. It is very upbeat and helps motivate me, especially when I have to write fighting scenes.
After writing a chapter, I wait a week or two before I read it again and edit/reword things, then it’s ready to be posted.
Did writing affect your work schedule that much? How did you even find the time to write?
No. If my motivation is not that great, I tend to only write 1 page (500-600 words) which takes an hour. If I am motivated and have a clear vision I can hammer through 2-3k+ words in 4 hours.
Is your story a typical virtual reality game or rebirth litRPG story?
Neither; I wanted to do something different. This is not a rebirth/reborn, teleported, mind-transfer, trapped inside a game, or even a VRmmo novel. It is a fantasy with the main character born and growing up in this world.
Later on, something happens, causing the litRPG elements(Quest, missions, levels, skills, stats) to appear.
Final tips?
Got a good idea? write it down! Keep doing it and soon you will have a large number of ideas for your story. You can transfer them to a text doc and sort them out later. Part of the fun in writing is thinking up ideas and trying to puzzle out where the idea will fit into the story.
If you have an idea for a story that you really want to write, save it and write a crap story first.
By crap story, I don’t mean to purposely write the worst story you can think of. What I means is don’t worry if it is going to be the next best seller or not and just to write a different story so you can learn your own style of writing and find what your flaws are. When you look back at it a year later, you will be shocked at how far you have come since then and your story you really wanted to write will be happy that you waited.
Lastly, Don’t be obsessed with perfection. You will never finish if you try to keep revising everything 100 times.
Tell us a joke:
What did the buffalo say to his son when he left for college? Bison.
That’s it for the interview. Thanks again for taking part and we hope your novel becomes a great success!