Guest Post: The Path by Nathan Squiers

Posted August 5, 2015 by Julie S. in Author Appearances / 2 Comments

THE PATH…

It’s the longest running question on the up-and-coming’s mind and the first and most frequent question that the established will be asked: “What’s the best way to succeed as a writer?”

For as many authors as there are, however, there’s just as many answers, and, more often than not, their success story will mean very little to yours. Everyone’s heard some variation of the old line “what’s medicine for one is poison for another,” and the same rings true for any sort of career success. The simple truth is that there is no concrete answer, but there ARE steps that can be taken that, by and large, will tip the scales in your favor.

The ability to create new worlds and characters is the art of creativity, which is not something that one can necessarily learn. Like athleticism and musical talent, it’s something that an individual’s mind naturally does or does not have. It is, however, the sort of thing that can be nurtured; the sort of thing that can be trained and expanded upon. Chances are if you have the desire to write, then you’ve already got a knack for creativity.

My start came about from a silver lining in an otherwise dark storm cloud; I was in a bad frame of mind and most of my time was spent thinking about escape. The only thing that gave me a sense of control was writing, and it was through this that I started to find my strength—getting hooked on telling the story of a like-minded young man and his path to strength and confidence. After ten shaky years of writing that first book (a book that would later become ‘Crimson Shadow: Noir,” first novel in my dark urban fantasy series) I realized I’d found my calling, and I set about to know EXACTLY what to expect from that calling. I took classes in the art of crafting stories and shaping characters, I studied classic methods of storytelling and the anatomy of different plot structures, and I read… a lot.

While the first half of my story isn’t something I’d suggest to anybody, aspiring writer or not, the second half, the studying and research and reading, is most certainly a great place to start. Just like the athletes need to train and musicians need to practice, a writer needs to hone their mind to strengthen their craft. By training your mind to absorb everything around you—by asking yourself “how can what I’m seeing/hearing/experiencing be applied to my work?”—you’ll begin to “clock in” as a writer.

Unlike any other job, however, this is not the sort of career one takes vacations from. Wise literary minds have put it best as saying “a writer is either writing or getting new inspiration for their writing.”

While this may sound like a cliché, and in some cases it is, it doesn’t make it any less true. (In fact, as a writer, you’ll come to find that clichés are sometimes clichés for a reason; they’ve survived the test of time and held strong enough to earn the title.)

And therein lies the first of two crucial practices every successful writer can agree on: never stop striving to get better; never stop taking in new ideas…

Which leads me to the second, and arguably the most crucial, of the two steps: NEVER STOP WRITING!!!

So many people have come up to me upon hearing that I’m an author or approached me after panels I’ve hosted on this very subject and said essentially the same thing: “I started a book once…”

The statement always hangs in the air, for me because I’m certain there’s more they have to say, and, for them, I’m sure because they expect this to represent an accomplishment that I’m going to praise them for.

Now, make no mistake, I’m not about to go belittling all of their efforts. Getting something started is a tough thing to do… almost as tough as finishing. And therein lies the trouble—they didn’t finish what they started, and an unfinished anything is, when it all boils down to it, no different than having nothing at all.

You can’t publish an unfinished book.

You can’t sell an unfinished book.

And you can’t take pride in an unfinished book.

There are so many little reasons to stop writing—afraid that it’s not good; too tough to keep it going; got lazy; got distracted; blah blah blah—but there’s one simple-yet-challenging reason that outweighs all of them: you’ll have achieved what you set out to accomplish.

Every story deserves to be told, and, with the right care and treatment, any story can be great. Worries about whether or not a piece is good or whether or not people will read it are ill-spent at best, because at the end of the day the writer with 200 pages of completed crap still has a better piece of work than the writer who quit at page 150.

As I’ve already said: there is no single right way to become an author. Success stories, like all stories, are different for the person experiencing them. However your success may come to you, though, it can’t begin until you’ve worked towards a completed and polished manuscript.

By that point, however—provided you’ve put the blood, sweat, and tears that your work is owed—the pieces have a funny way of falling into place. 


Noir coverTitle: Noir (Crimson Shadow #1)

Author: Nathan Squiers

Blurb: When all hope is lost, what drives you?When all those you love are dead, who do you turn to?When there’s nothing left to strive for, what do you stay alive for?

Xander Stryker wants to die.

Ever since witnessing his mother’s murder at the hands of his abusive stepfather when he was a boy, he has spent every day trying to reach that goal.

But every night he’s denied the death he craves.

As his eighteenth birthday approaches, a chance for change is offered when his life is plunged into a supernatural world of vampires and other creatures of darkness. Caught in the depths of this new reality, mysteries of his vampiric lineage begin to unravel and he’s offered the ultimate choice:

Continue on with his wretched human life or begin a new one as the vampire prodigy he was always meant to be.

Unfortunately, the supernatural world can be just as unforgiving and brutal as any other and Xander’s choice is met with disastrous consequences. Now, with a little support and even less hope, the chaos of his new world collides with his torturous past and threatens to crush him once and for all.

Will Xander be able to use his new strength to conquer his fears, or will he succumb to his own darkness. . .

. . . and allow it to finally destroy him?

There is no going back now.

No more running.

It’s time for a bloody change!

6f2ed-addtogoodreads

 

About the Author

Nathan Squiers (The Literary Dark Emperor and the author formally known as “Prince”) is a resident of Upstate New York. Living with his loving fiancé/fellow author, Megan J. Parker, and two incredibly demanding and out-of-control demon-cats, Nathan lives day-by-day on a steady diet of potentially lethal doses of caffeine. When he isn’t immersed in his writing, he often escapes reality through horror and/or action movie marathons, comic books & graphic novels, Japanese anime & manga, and gnarly tunes. While out-and-about, The Literary Dark Emperor can be found in the chair of a piercing studio/tattoo parlor or simply loving life with friends & loved ones.

Learn more about Nathan’s work and join The Legion at www.nathansquiers.com

 

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/litdarkemperor/
Twitter: @LitDark_Emperor
Official website: www.nathansquiersauthor.com


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Posted August 5, 2015 by Julie S. in Author Appearances / 2 Comments

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2 responses to “Guest Post: The Path by Nathan Squiers