Hai everyone, Today we have the author of Disruption, Chuck Barrett
Hi Chuck thank you for being a part of my virtual tete a tete
So,
What genre do you write and why?
When I started reading as an adult, I was fascinated with Tom Clancy’s first works, specifically Red Storm Rising. At that point I was hooked on thrillers. I read all of Clancy’s stuff and then moved on to other authors who wrote thrillers. It seemed only natural when the desire to write took over, that I write what I loved to read.
Where do you get inspiration for your stories?
Oddly enough, most of the story ideas come from small news snippets. I will piece together several that I find intriguing and try to create a storyline nexus. Once that is in place, and I’ve created a premise for the book, I just let the story tell itself…as long as it stays within the original premise. Sometimes it wanders slightly off course, but so far that has only enhanced the story. I start writing with only the beginning, the end, and the premise in mind.
How long have you been writing and is this your full time job?
I started writing in 1998 while I was working full-time as an air traffic controller in Florida. My first two books, The Savannah Project & The Toymaker, were written while I was still employed. Now, I currently am a full-time author…thanks to a mandatory retirement age with the FAA, which has actually made that transition much easier.
Do you write every day and what is your writing schedule?
I don’t write every day, but when I do write, I write a lot every day. Once the full story has developed in my mind, I write every day (almost) until the first draft is completed. Then I take a couple of weeks off before I pick it up and start the first round of self-edits. That’s when the work starts!
Do you ever get writer’s block?
Not writer’s block, per se. I do have days, sometimes several days in a row, when the words just don’t flow like I want them to. The sentences feel stilted and rough and my creativity seems lacking. Or my motivation wanes. I have found a remedy that works and works well…I read. I pick up another author’s work…not necessarily a thriller, but usually, and I just sit down away from my office and read. Within a few hours, I feel recharged and ready to write again.
What is your next project?
My current work-in-progress is the second in the Gregg Kaplan series. As a matter of fact, the next two, at least, will be in the Gregg Kaplan series. I had such a tremendous success with BLOWN, that I feel I owe it to my readers to give them what they want. And what they seem to want now is more rough and tumble action with Gregg Kaplan.
What advice would you give budding writers?
Writing, and writing well, takes practice. To work on the craft of writing involves focusing on the fundamentals until they become habit and then progressing to the finer nuances of the craft. Discouragements comes in many forms—frustration over plot, writer’s block, critiques from writers’ groups, and from many other sources. If you want to be a writer, then don’t quit writing. It’s easy to find excuses NOT to write, what you should focus on is writing and writing often.
