Leif Erickson – Page 20 – Leif J. Erickson

Ghost Town, Nature, Novel, Seasons, Story Telling, Whiterock

Ghost Town Q&A Part 1

Since I’ve started writing and getting my novels published, I’ve had many people asking me questions about my ‘Ghost Town’ series of books. Through email, Facebook, and in person, there has been a great deal in interest in my writing projects. I thought I would take my next few blogs and write answers to some of the most common questions that I’ve been receiving. If you have any questions about the books, feel free to ask and I’ll answer them in the upcoming blog entries.

Autumn

Autumn is one of the most wonderful times of the year. The trees are a mosaic of amazing colors, the reds, yellows, and oranges, the air is crisp and fresh, and the aromas of harvest fill the air. It’s one of the things that I enjoy most, Minnesota in the full grip of the fall season. With the abundance of State Parks, forests, and campgrounds, the beauty of fall in Minnesota is easy to capture and enjoy. Whether you decide to hike down one of the many trails throughout the state, or bike along the roads, or even canoe down the lakes and rivers, Minnesota is a nature lover’s paradise.

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Hero's Journey, Motivation, Novel, Screenplay, Story Telling, Writing

The Art of Storytelling

When I first started writing I read as much as I could about how to tell a good story. It’s amazing how just very simple changes in the words that are used can change the entire makeup of a phrase even though they say the exact same things. Depending on the situation, sometimes you are forced into using a certain form or style of writing, but when you tell a good story you can let it flow freely.

Characters vs Settings

I was thinking of how to describe a scene for my latest book. It’s a nature scene set in a different world. I couldn’t get the words to match the area I had in my mind. I wrote and rewrote the narrative a number of times but no matter what I tried I couldn’t get the area to flow properly from the page. After a number of rewrites I grabbed a book from a college history course. The class was about the history and times of the North American Great Plains. It was a class that I loved with an instructor who was very passionate and knowledgeable about the Great Plains.

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Nature, Novel, Screenplay, Writing

Inspirations for Writing

As I started my career as a writer I would often try to force an idea to come to me. I would sit at the computer, staring at the white of the screen, and try to force the idea to come. Whether I needed a plot devise, a new character, or a twist, no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t force the ideas to form.

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Motivation, Novel, Screenplay, Writing

Motivations for Writing

When I began writing I started reading a lot of books about the writing process, how to format novels, the hero’s journey, and other aspects of writing. The one thing that all the book pretty much agreed on was the fact that if a person wants to be a writer, they need to write every day. It doesn’t matter what they write; a chapter of a book, a short story, a poem, an article, or a blog post, it’s just that they have to write something every day.