Interview with D. Robert Pease
I hope to use this space to print interviews with published writers to bring other voices to the issues we are discussing. I’m very excited that my first interview is with D. Robert Pease. He writes science fiction and fantasy for kids, young adults, and book lovers of all ages. His very successful Noah Zarc series is available most anywhere books are sold online.
What got you hooked on writing?
I was a voracious reader as a kid and into my teen years. I consumed every book I could get my hands on, mostly science fiction and fantasy. Looking back, the thing that really drew me to these types of stories was the ability, as Captain James T. Kirk would say, to explore strange new worlds. Then in college I discovered something. Not only could I find these fabulous universes in books I read, I could also find them in stories I wrote. There is nothing better than being the very first person to read a story and get enveloped in a new world.
What really sparked it for me was a biography of Tolkien. In it the author said that many times Tolkien had no idea how a story was going to unfold until he wrote it. An example the author gave was when Frodo left the shire for the first time and encountered Strider, neither Frodo, nor Tolkien, had any idea who Strider was. Tolkien needed someone to help the Hobbit on the next stage of his journey, and the wizard Gandalf was nowhere to be found (again for reasons Tolkien didn’t understand) so he introduced this new character. This was utterly amazing to me. I had visions of Tolkien writing away and learning that Strider was in fact a long lost King raised by elves. I wanted to try my hand at this. So I dove into my own worlds and discovered it was every bit as magical as I had imagined it to be.
What’s the most important aspect of character building?
In high school I acted in plays and musicals. I loved it, but I struggled with memorizing my lines. To the point where I had (and continue to have) nightmares about standing on stage and having my mind go blank. Then, sometime later, I began to understand my problem. I had simply tried to memorize lines, I really had no idea what the meant. I didn’t understand the story I was trying to tell. Or the motivation of my character.
This is exactly the key, in my mind, to character building in fiction. I spend a great deal of time with my eyes closed (in the shower, in bed, lying back in my chair) imagining myself inside my characters’ heads. Who are they? How did they end up in this particular circumstance, and ultimately how would they react to whatever I was throwing at them.
I do create simple character profiles, including photographs of how I imagine them looking. Lists of character traits, etc… but those are just ways to prime the pump. It really is climbing into their souls and looking at the world through their eyes. Then letting them speak to me. That’s where the magic I talked about before happens. I have found that if I really delve into a character, they do become real. And they begin to tell their own story. And I get to be the first to hear it.
I’ll give you an example from my Noah Zarc series for kids. The main character, Noah, is a spunky, funny, sometimes careless little kid with a big huge heart. But as I wrote book one in the series, he kept telling me something wasn’t right. But I kept marching forward. I liked where the story went, but over and over I heard this twelve-year-old voice in my head saying I was missing something. Finally, it dawned on me that Noah was a paraplegic. Born without the use of his legs, and confined to a wheelchair (actually a cool hovering magchair.) I had no intention of creating a main character with a disability. I don’t really know any kids with disabilities, but I realized that was just part of who Noah was.
That is the cool stuff! That’s why I write to meet these people who teach me things I could never learn anywhere else.
How do you write for middle grade aged kids?
I don’t think writing for kids is much different than writing for any other audience. Kids are just as smart (if not more so) than adults, and they love good stories that make them think. The benefit of writing for kids is they aren’t hindered by the baggage adults have. They are more open to magic and able to see the wonder of new worlds.
There are some difficulties. I always have to keep in mind that I’m writing stories that some other parents’ kids are going to read. Should there be kissing? Should there be death? If so, how much? I worry, sometimes, that kids are growing up a bit too fast. But, kids in their tween years (9-12) are beginning to think about bigger issues. Relationships outside of their family. Tragedy around the world. So I believe stories that target this age group need to address these topics and maybe, in my own little way, I can help kids see the beauty in the world and how they can help add to it by growing up to be adults who value honor, and loyalty, and forgiveness, and sacrifice, and… the list goes on. That’s the power of writing for kids.
My dad, a middle-school teacher for thirty plus years, once said the reason he liked teaching this age was because they were old enough to learn important lessons, while still young enough they didn’t think they already knew everything.
It is both a joy and a bit frightening to speak to kids through my stories. But, in the end, I hope my books can help in some small way to influence kids to want to make the world a better place.
Thanks Robert.
Coming in May of this year from Evolved Publishing, D. Robert Pease brings us an epic fantasy: Shadow Swarm. And also, coming in July, the first book in a new YA fantasy series called Dream Warriors, A Joey Cola Novel. You can learn more about his Noah Zarc series or these new projects at www.drobertpease.com or www.evolvedpub.com
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