eSpecs Books Focus #9: Robert E. Waters
What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?
I like a main character with a good internal conflict, a man or woman who expresses a little self-doubt in what he/she must do. I don’t like overly-confident characters who always make the right decisions, the right choices. Why would anyone bother following those people through a narrative if you knew that at the end, they would prevail? A character that questions his/her place in the universe, who stumbles along the way, but who, in the end, overcomes adversity and prevails against poor odds. Wasn’t it William Faulkner who said the only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself? I’m not sure it’s the only thing worth writing about, but I agree with the concept, and I try to work something like that into all of my stories.
Where would you rank writing on the “Is it an art or it is a science continuum?” Why?
I’d rank it further on the “art” side of the spectrum. I’ve known a lot of technical writers in my day, having gotten my degree in technical writing. Many of those professionals can write a good rulebook, or a manual, a brochure, an environmental impact study. But most of them lack the imagination to write a good story. Science plays a part (the grammar, the style, etc), but storytelling is more of an art form IMO.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
Keeping the details straight, and the longer the story, the harder that is. I wind up copying a lot of tiny snippets, names of characters, unique terms, etc. as I go along, so that by the end of the project, the bottom portion of my file is strewn with errant names, places, descriptions, etc. that I had to refer back to as I wrote the story. For some of my projects, like for my Mask Cycle novels published by Ring of Fire Press (The Masks of Mirada, The Thief of Cragsport), I’ve created a full glossary of character names, locations, terms etc. just to keep it all together in my mind.
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https://seanhtaylor.blogspot.com/2021/08/especs-books-focus-9-robert-e-waters.html
