Discovered Wordsmiths

Overview

Evan lives in San Francisco and writes stories for video games. He has worked on some big ones like: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Battlefront, Cuphead, and TellTale's the Walking Dead.

He has written and edited comics and also teaches game writing at the University of Silicon Valley. We delve into the differences in story between books, movies, comics, and video games. Evan clarifies the different jobs in game writing and how they work together.

If you've been interested in how to create stories that work in video games, this is the episode.

Book

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385345828/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0385345828&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=8334dc0782f770723515d28c325441d0

Article

Here is an article that Evan wrote on his blog about getting into the game writing business.

https://www.evanskolnick.com/single-post/2019/08/28/How-does-one-become-a-game-writer

Website

https://www.evanskolnick.com/

https://usv.edu/

Favorites

https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/62276/spider-man_unlimited_1993_12

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0762G6R32/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0762G6R32&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=8e9ebe940fbecfe6067f543ac77de927

YouTube

https://youtu.be/_9J2UcuBJWE

Transcript

All right. Evan Lewis officially greet you a welcome to the podcast. Discovered wordsmith. Really great to talk to you, how you doing today besides

[00:05:28] Evan: doing fine.

[00:05:29] Evan: Thanks. Thank you very much for having me on.

[00:05:31] Stephen: Yeah. Great. Okay. So you're a different person to chat with. Usually I talk to new authors who have a Bookout. We are talking for something completely different. So I'm really excited because it is different direction. It's something that a lot of my author friends don't know much about.

[00:05:47] Stephen: So before we get into that, tell everybody a little bit about yourself outside of work life. Some of the things you'd like to do where you live that definitely.

[00:05:55] Evan: I live in the San Francisco bay area with my lovely wife and two sons who are away at [00:06:00] college. So we're just going to taste it being empty-nesters.

[00:06:02] Evan: Now, this is interesting, but I love spending time with my family. I'm a big baseball fan, especially red Sox, van Gogh, red Sox. I'm from the Northeast. Watching the playoffs now with bated breath and I like playing video games that you would expect. And also board, especially with my old high school buddies were spread across the country now, but we play online just about every week to stay in touch and have fun together.

[00:06:21] Evan: And I play drums, not well at all, but I do it for fun. And it's one of the things that I do that I have no intention of getting any good at. And that's not the point. So

Jimmy reads an excerpt from 9 Things Career Authors Don't Do: Self-Actualization entitled "Don't ignore the little voice".

Overview

This is an interesting discussion with Jimmy. We start by finding out that Jimmy used to stutter and used music to overcome that. This leads to a mind blowing bit of philosophy from Jimmy and how he views the spirituality of writing.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/BVb158MEbmk

Transcript

[00:02:45] Stephen: Alright, so let's talk some author stuff. So obviously we mentioned, we were talking about your books. You've learned a lot from when you were 10 years old and couldn't get past 30 pages tonight. You've got a book out, several books out. So what are [00:03:00] some of the. Biggest things you've learned that you're doing now that you didn't do when you first started 10 or more years ago.

[00:03:07] Stephen: I think that

[00:03:08] Jimmy: practice is really important. And I think I was maybe mentioning in our mastermind group the other day, Steven, that I wish that when I started writing, I had approached it more like I did music because when I was writing songs, I never really aspired to be a great guitar. I just want it to be a good enough guitarist so that I could play the songs that I heard in my mind.

[00:03:35] Jimmy: And a lot of times I would hear songs in my mind that I didn't have the technical ability for on the guitar. So I would have to practice guitar. So it was very, it was a means to an end and a discipline. And I wished that I had approached writing in a similar way, 10 years ago to dress right scene after scene.

[00:03:53] Jimmy: Because I need to be able to have the chops to write those stories that I see bloom in my [00:04:00] mind. And so I'm doing that. I'm doing that more now, but it would have been nice to have been doing that a lot earlier.

[00:04:06] Stephen: Okay. You got to learn. Oh, we all have to start somewhere. And I think we all start at different spots, different places in our writing.

[00:04:13] Stephen: When you're writing, what software and services do you use?

[00:04:18] Jimmy: Scribner is indispensable for me. I actually use Scrivener for everything. I even use it for invoices for work and because it's just so easy for me to use and I use it for journaling every morning and yeah. So Scribner's the most important and yeah.

[00:04:39] Jimmy: And then besides that, let's see what else. I haven't formatted a book in a little while. I think that I want to use, I think that I want to get a map. Just for the purpose of using vellum next time I've never used it, but I think I'm going to do that for the next, for that, for the next manuscript.

[00:04:59] Stephen: And [00:05:00] arguably we both use the mastermind to not only keep us motivated, but accountable for our writing and to learn new things off of other writers.

[00:05:09] Stephen: I think that is a tool. A lot of people overlook sometimes.

[00:05:14] Jimmy: Yeah. The mastermind is huge. That's another thing to answer your previous. Question. What would you do if I went to the thing that I'm doing right now differently than I did 10 years ago is interacting with the community of writers. I had tried to in the past, I had joined writers groups in Portland and whatnot, but it just never really took.

[00:05:36] Jimmy: Um, but yeah, using slack, like you're saying which slack is a great piece of software for keeping in touch with the community, like a topic based community. And so using a slack to kid to stay in touch with people that is,

Overview

Jimmy likes to do wood working and has built a sauna and a writer's cabin. Some of his writing deals with woodworking and he's been working on various projects.

Like many creatives, he plays music and devoted a large part of his life to playing music. That is, until he started to go deaf in his early 20's. This led him back to writing.

Luckily, his hearing returned and he now employs his writing skills to songwriting along with writing non-fiction, fiction, and working with wood.

His Book

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082HBZSM1/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B082HBZSM1&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=da3544627ffc3a01d8b53f359a74a8f4

Website

https://www.jressien.com/

His Favorites

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679743464/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0679743464&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=f7309b1eabacd334c4b86bcf7a5c52f6

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0765319640/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0765319640&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=efecccf489587169a283e8e905245247

Favorite Bookstore

https://www.powells.com/

YouTube

https://youtu.be/RdTzT6Cq98Q

Transcript

[00:00:44] Stephen: Hey, welcome to episode 80 of discovered wordsmith. This is a great episode. I've got Jimmy SCN on here. Really fun. Talk with him. He said a few things that kind of blew my mind. So listen up. There's some really. The divergence of [00:01:00] knowledge from Jimmy. But I really had a great time with this interview before we do that.

[00:01:04] Stephen: You may have noticed I've been doing some shout outs and promos of some friends and their podcasts and services. So let me play one for you. You've. The last couple of weeks this is from Emma Desi. She runs a podcast called turning readers into writers. So for all you readers out there, if you've been thinking of writing a book, this is where to go check out Emma's podcast, check out our services, see what she has to offer.

[00:01:29] Stephen: So here's how.

[00:01:32] Jimmy: Hi, I'm Emma Desi. And I host turning readers into writers, a podcast for first time novelists each week I interviewed debut authors, editors, publishers, and even number one best sellers who help you find the time and confidence to write your own first. Together. We'll keep you inspired, motivated, and educated on all things, writing, editing, and publishing.

[00:01:59] Jimmy: So head on [00:02:00] over to Emma desi.com, where you'll find everything you need to know to start and finish your novel. I'll see you in.

[00:02:09] Stephen: All right. So Emma runs a great podcast along with some other friends of mine. I've listed some recommendations on my website of podcasts. You really should go listen to, in fact, I'm sending us a Bloomingdale message out right now, telling you all to go listen to it.

[00:02:22] Stephen: You don't have a choice. So if you believe that, then just go do it. And we'll all be good. But anyway, before we go too much further,

Overview

Lily joins us again talking about her latest book - The Ripening. She tells us about her writing adventures since we last spoke to her.

Besides writing, Lily is a teacher, which has taught her quite a bit about her own writing.

Previous Episode - https://www.discoveredwordsmiths.com/2021/05/06/episode-47a-lily-mackenzie-freefall/

Latest Book

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1683132343/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1683132343&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=02d5865462618f66d9b1449f73321b4c

YouTube

https://youtu.be/SK8GGc6TGNU

Transcript

[00:02:59] Lily: things [00:03:00] going for you? Very busy. I don't know if it's I have a new novel coming out October 5th. Uh, and it's entitled the ripening, a Canadian girl grows up and it features a character named Tilly, Bishop and Tilly actually appeared in my last novel freefall, a divine comedy and the publisher had wanted me to do a sequel.

[00:03:27] Lily: And so this is, this particular narrative is about Tilly growing up. And so it ends when she's 18 years old and she starts out as this innocent growing up on the Canadian Prairie. Under the wing of a partially present mother and a Jekyll and Hyde father stepfather, I should say. And so after the family moves from the farm where her stepfather had a place, he had really bad asthma, so they had to move to the city.

[00:03:59] Lily: [00:04:00] So after they moved to the city to Calgary and give up the farm, she loses her way and she's initiated into city. And without parental guidance, she begins a downward spiral and ends up eventually with a side trip to Toronto. She ends up visually in San Francisco during the late fifties, which of course was a time of loosening, mores, major change for everybody, I think.

[00:04:29] Lily: And so I think she goes through some really rough times and, but I think the novel demonstrates that we have the power to turn our lives around. If we're heading in the wrong direction, but it usually involves a struggle and a certain amount of pain before we can set off on a better path. And so in free fall at divine comedy, we know that telly is an artist.

[00:04:52] Lily: And, and so I think it comes through in the ripening. A Canadian girl grows up [00:05:00] that Tilly is an artist in the making that she is creating herself actually. Pages she's creating herself. And that's what first form of artistry. Yeah. So I'm excited about this is my fourth published novel.

[00:05:16] Stephen: Nice. This is a sequel to the last one.

[00:05:19] Stephen: Did you find it hard or easy to continue the story to make something that use the same characters?

[00:05:27] Lily: Well, the hard part was Tilly is really zany she's, she's a very fun character. And it was part of the ripening is that while there are some seeds of the later Chile in this young Tilly there, it was more difficult to make her so zany because she's going through some really difficult things.

[00:05:51] Lily: So that was a problem when people change. Just because she is a girl isn't quite as kinky is as [00:06:00] she is as an older adult. I I'm a lot different from what I was when I was a kid. I guess there'll be allowances for that.

Overview

Mary Elizabeth shares the wisdom she's learned through writing her books. Her advice is pertinent to all writers, especially when she talks about publishing independently versus trying to get published traditional.

We discuss various aspects of the differences and pros/cons of which choice that you make when publishing.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/34sLLI6n01Q

Transcript

[00:00:50] Stephen: Let's talk a little author stuff, but let's, we've talked the books. So hopefully we got some people reading it. So you've written several now through the last couple of years, what are some lessons you've learned writing from when you started to now?

[00:01:08] Mary: Oh, my gosh. I've learned so much. It's amazing. It's like you, you started kindergarten and now you're in college. It's such a journey for writing and nobody's journey is the same. And just in the time period from the very first book, if I wrote it in 2013, I was connected with who turned out to be my co-writer for the next two books we met in 2015 to 2016.

[00:01:31] Mary: We got it. Published a contract in 2017. It was released. So it's a long journey in there. I think I've learned more about what works and doesn't work in a book what's attractive to readers. I hope so. At least we try to be a good writer and learn those things and what, what is going to appeal to a reader because you want your books to be out there and people to buy them.

[00:01:52] Mary: But I, you really have to research what are you in this for? Because unless you have, and this is just the truth about it, unless you have lots and lots of money. You can't go into this going, oh, I'm going to write a book. It's going to go on the shelf out of a, make a million dollars. There's so much more that goes to, it goes along with it.

[00:02:14] Mary: So that's, I want to parse that bubble there because it is not the truth at all. And you need to have a five-year plan, I think, going into it. Where do you want to be in five years for your. With your books or as an author, my journey has so much that came into it that I never even saw was going to happen.

[00:02:33] Mary: And I'm so grateful for it, but research whether to be traditionally published or self-published. And I say that even more now, today, because I just went through being a part of two anthologies that were published. They were self published and in eight hours, 29 women. And not even all of us participated all it's all the ladies, not all of them participated I did, but within eight hours we went to a number one best-selling Amazon book and stayed in the top 10 for two weeks.

[00:03:06] Mary: I'm not sure where we are today. Cause I haven't looked. Yeah, it changes all the time. It changes hourly. I actually, with, with Amazon's algorithm. It's so interesting. I, because I have worked with someone who's traditionally published, she's actually getting ready to publish his 33rd book. And so his mindset is totally traditional route that's that's he will not do anything else.

[00:03:29] Mary: That's where he is. And that's okay. Because that's worked for him really well. But then I go through this experience and I see what happened and with the support. So support is very important. If you're going to be a writer, if you are by yourself and putting a book out there, you're going to it's, you're going to struggle unless you have got a lot of support and people who will.

[00:03:51] Mary: And, uh, share your book on Facebook and recommend it to ...

Overview

Mary Elizabeth faces challenges as a writer and a mother. Two of her three kids are on the spectrum and they inspired her award winning book series. Not only all of that - she has two shows that stream online.

Her mission is to help families which ultimately helps the kids. Her books help with her mission and she has worked with other authors to achieve those goals.

Her Website

https://maryejackson.com/

Her Shows

https://business.facebook.com/WritersCornerLive

https://www.facebook.com/SpecialNeeds.TV

Mary's Book

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08R9T13QC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B08R9T13QC&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=e95087a25ac4d46323abfd1dd3504401

Favorites

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375851569/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0375851569&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=e7a39a017ffd60c60b6ea558e08019b0

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZTT5KTR/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B07ZTT5KTR&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=0aee4fc49fcaf676a2c06c02cb57c89b

YouTube

https://youtu.be/J4ZVuSE_5Uw

Transcript

[00:00:56] Mary: hello? We're JP and Christine co-host of the serial fiction show. Do you like to read or write serial fiction and want to learn more? We have two podcasts, the reader serial fiction show and the writer serial fiction. On the reader's podcast, we escape into a new cereal each week. Then interview the author to tell us more on the writer serial fiction show.

[00:01:20] Mary: We break the serial episode down with the author and talk craft, upping our serial fiction game together. Pump get lost in serial fiction and meet some amazing authors along the way to get you reading and writing cereal. So hop on over to serial fiction, show.com and check it out. We hope to see you there.

[00:01:45] Stephen: welcome to another great episode of discovered word Smiths, and there's a great guest today. She has a. Interesting life let's say with her not only her authorship, but her three kids, two of which are on the spectrum and her books are inspired by and also meant to help with families, with kids on the spectrum.

[00:02:07] Stephen: So it's a great talk, great books to check out. Everybody should go learn a little more about dealing with these issues and it would probably make the world a lot better. And I think Mary Elizabeth is trying. To help us all do that. You also may notice that I have several episodes I've been releasing each week.

[00:02:28] Stephen: That's because this fall I've had such an influx of people for interviews, new authors, authors, I've already talked to a chapter reads, I'm doing the panels, uh, just a whole bunch of stuff. So. I've started releasing two a week for a while to catch up because I don't want all the authors sitting and waiting for three, four months until their, their interview comes out.

[00:02:55] Stephen: So that's why we might have a few more than just the one. So anyway, uh,

Overview

David is back (he first appeared in Episode 22) to give us an update on how things are going since we last talked. He's kept up writing, and has published a new book in his Project Adventure series, but hasn't had the breakout success.

We discuss his new books and what he's been doing to market his current books. While he's had some success, he is still working to make writing a better career.

Previous episode - https://www.discoveredwordsmiths.com/2020/10/19/episode-22-david-konrad-project-adventure-heart-of-the-island/

Website

https://davidkonradauthor.com/project-adventure-series/

His Books

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09M951M13/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B09M951M13&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=8c833c592c0556a4c2211da980d6bb27

YouTube

https://youtu.be/252Qzn8zH90

Transcript

[00:00:51] Stephen: All right, David, welcome to have discovered wordsmith podcasts again, as good to see, actually see you this time. How have things been? Well, thank you,

[00:00:59] David: Stephen. I'm so glad to be here again, as you said, and that's great to actually see you this time. Things have been missed as good as they could've been a crazy time.

[00:01:08] Stephen: Now, I believe last time we talked, your wife was commuting and you were living at the time. It was Madrid. Okay.

[00:01:18] David: Pretty much at the time, but now we're actually, we're back to Munich, which is where my, my boys were born. My boys close to seven in a couple of months. So they actually started school 10 days ago here.

[00:01:30] David: So that's on top of everything that's been going on lately. Uh, Yeah. Trying to figure out, figure it out a school in a foreign language and all that. So it's so yes, but since then, of course, many things have happened. And the part of the reason why we're back in back to Munich is because we don't, she's not, my wife is not commuting that much anymore.

[00:01:53] David: There's no point. And then it just made more sense to be here because this is kind of know for many reasons that we consider those to be.

[00:02:04] Stephen: Nice. Okay. So when we talked, you had written a book, one of your project adventure series, and you're working on book two. And in the last year, even with moving as your boys starting school, you've got four books out now.

[00:02:18] Stephen: So tell us what's been going on in your writing to get four books in your series. The

[00:02:23] David: short answer is I've gotten better at it. And yeah, the book one was a great learning experience and, but there was a learning curve to everything and inviting is no different than. Book one when it was really finished and out there, it just took so much, uh, and learned so many things that I had no idea I would have to learn in order to create.

[00:02:47] David: So something as complex as a, as an actual book, as a self-published author, this is quite an undertaking. And, but then later on the actual, the act of creating books became super.

Overview

Today's episode is actually an author panel with 8 authors discussing worldbuilding events. These are run by J Thorn and Zach Bohannon where a small group of authors gather to create a world in which they each write a story. A shared world.

Time is spent not only discussing the rules of the world (and each event is a different theme), but also some learning. We have spent time writing character archetypes, story rubric, and working on the 3 C story method.

Afterwards, each author is free to write a story in any genre using the world that everyone created. Past themes have been Rockapoc (at the Rock n Roll hall of fame), sci-fi Seattle, authors on a train (actually spending the time traveling on a train while writing), Witches of Salem, and Vampires of New Orleans.

The locations were chosen to help build the atmosphere and give everyone a great destination to hang out. Below are the authors and links to their sites, books and podcasts.

The Hosts and Worldbuilding Event Page

https://thecareerauthor.com/events/

https://thecareerauthor.com/the-career-author-podcast-episode-38-story-world-building/

J Thorn:

https://jthorn.net

Zach Bohannon:

http://zachbohannon.com/

The Authors

JP Rindfleish IX:

http://www.jprindfleischix.com/

Kindle Vella Series: https://linktr.ee/jtblakely

Podcast: https://www.serialfictionshow.com/

Alicia McCalla:

https://aliciamccalla.com/

Books: https://aliciamccalla.com/books/

Shop: https://aliciamccalla.com/shop-categories/

Cathy Spader:

https://catherinespader.com/

Books: https://catherinespader.com/feast-of-the-raven/

T.W. Piperbrook:

http://twpiperbrook.com/

Books: http://twpiperbrook.com/contamination/

Michael Axe:

http://axeman.net/

Lon E. Varnadore:

https://www.amazon.com/Lon-Varnadore/e/B002UIICLO

Will Pepper:

http://willpepper.com/

Books: https://www.amazon.com/Will-Pepper/e/B08F7ZWPN7%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Overview

Terry and I continue our conversation by talking about his change in career. Not just once, but several times during his life. Which led to his current writing career.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/LRX9q8VHBXk

Transcript

Oh, okay. So that's evolved for me. I started out with Microsoft word. Then I went to Scribner. Scrivener is really good for organizing and managing characters. But I do all since I'm self published, I do all of my own formatting and stuff and I do it. And I do that with vellum I'm on the, what usually happens is that I'll start out, I'll get an idea for a scene or a short story.

I'll write that scene and then it ends up growing into the novel. So that happens oftentimes still on Microsoft word. And then what I'll do is I'll transfer. I'll write them in word. I run it through pro writing. Which is a thing that catches the grammar and passive voice and stuff like that. And then I'll copy it and put it into the chapter in vellum.

And I run actually the printout for all of the various digital copies and stuff, so I can pop it into my apple books application and read it and things like that. And then I'll go back and make fixes that way. So my barf draft, I just let it flow. I don't worry about stuff. If I do see something that needs to happen to set up a scene, I'll go back and.

But I do what Patterson does and that is I'll write a hundred pages and then go back and look at it, see if it's flowing the way it should. And then I'll write another a hundred until I get to whatever the number is. I try and make them between 70 and 85,000 words, if they're going to be a novel, but I don't stick to that.

I stop when the story's done. I mean, But it's a better book because I wasn't trying to hit a word count. I was trying to tell a story. And so that's the most important thing. Yeah. So I write on those things and pro writing aid is really important. I like that better than Grammarly and beta readers. I'm going to have, I have a trusted group of beta readers that represent each of the character types.

My story, they read they feedback. I make the changes and then. It goes to, I have a story consultant that I use that helps me make sure my plots are right and that my characters are developing as they should. Then I've got an editor. I have three different editors to base based upon what I'm writing at the given time.

And I pick one of them, use that by the time I get it back from them. It's ready to go. When it's on Amazon cover designer, Bobby Mars does my covers for, um, Fantastic person. Karen Phillips does my kids' stuff. She's really great. And then Casey Ratchford is the illustrator of the mystery bug series.

Incredible talent, really good. And he's not even, he wouldn't consider himself that he's a, he thinks he's a reformed lawyer, but he's got a gift. So that real. Key. I think that you don't necessarily get when you're published by a big five publishing company, is that you retain that creative control over every piece of your work.

That's also the curse because we sink or swim based upon your decisions. So I'm the only one that blame. Yep. Yeah, I am. I am the interesting thing that I got from Bobby Mars about Vega, as she says, the readers don't want us, you don't show me. Don't ever show Jessica's face, always show her from the back and she's chasing.

So I always have. So, if you look at Vegas cover, she's running through a part of the Colorado river and you see the person she's chasing her hand,