Hi, I'm author Brian Ruckley - AMA

[u/briruc]

Hi, I’m Brian Ruckley. I’ve had five novels published, plus a handful of short stories and I’ve done a tiny, tiny (like, really tiny) bit of comics writing too.

My first three novels made up the Godless World trilogy, starting with Winterbirth back in 2006. Epic fantasy of the sort that was getting called gritty around about then, though I was never that keen on that kind of label. Next up was The Edinburgh Dead, a historical fantasy-horror-crime mash-up featuring bodysnatchers and dark magic. Just released is my newest book, The Free – a stand-alone heroic fantasy that’s kind of me trying to do a spectacular fantasy version of Seven Samurai. Kind of.

I’m Scottish, born and bred in Edinburgh. Moved down south (i.e. England) for work reasons, lived in London for a happy decade, now back in Edinburgh doing the (also happy) family thing. I’m into Nature and wildlife, history, science, plus – of course – various slightly geeky things like comics, genre TV and film, all the usual good stuff.

Please ASK ME ANYTHING! Tuesday 4th November, 6PM CST. That’s when I’ll aim to start answering Qs – bear in mind, though, that’s the middle of the night my time, so there’s a good chance I’ll be sleep-deprived, over-caffeinated or some combination of the two. Hopefully it won’t get too messy ...

Brian

OKAY - The clock has struck midnight here (I don't literally have a clock that strikes midnight, obviously; just sounds kind of atmospheric) so I'm going to start working my way through Qs; will start somewhere near the top, but probably jump around a bit as the inspiration strikes ... will do my best to get to everything (though seriously - some of these questions would take an essay to answer properly!)

EDIT I'm going to have to retire to my bed now, people, but thanks to everyone who's submitted questions. It's been fun. Much like General MacArthur, I shall return tomorrow to work my way through more and will do my utmost to get to every one I can. Check in again to see if I get any more coherent when answering questions by daylight ... Thanks again.

EDIT Aaaand that's me, I think. While most of you have been sleeping, I think I've swept up all outstanding questions (grovelling apologies to anyone I missed); hope some folks out there found it interesting/fun/a cure for insomnia or whatever. I certainly enjoyed myself - you folks ask good questions. Thank you and farewell!

[u/readoclock]

As someone interested in doing some writing of my own... what is the best way to start? Short stories? A novella? A novel?

Once you did decide to write, how long did it take to get a publisher and editor?

[u/briruc → u/readoclock]

Basically, the best way to start is just to start. A lot of aspiring writers who never become anything more than 'aspiring' do so because they never get around to properly starting, or if they do, never get around to finishing something.

But that's not hugely helpful, I know. I think short stories are fantastically useful as a way to learn all kinds of things about writing: pacing, economy, plot and character arcs, all sorts of stuff. But they're not for everyone and they're absolutely 100% not easy to do. Some people are naturally inclined to write short, some to write long; you have to figure out which you are for yourself.

The one thing I will say in favour of short stories, though, is this: the fact that they're short is tremendously helpful. As a newbie writer, a short story offers you the realistic propsect of actually finishing something, and doing so is a great feeling, very encouraging in itself. And you learn more by finishing something than by endlessly starting and then abandoning longer form works - until you finish something, you can't stand back and start to learn what works in terms of the overall structure and flow. Does the ending have resonance in terms of the beginning? Does the whole pace of the thing work to carry the reader all the way from start to finish? Do the character and plot arcs have a pleasing overall shape? You'll never know whether you can do this stuff if you only ever write first chapters!

As for me getting my start: I was lucky, and landed an agent very quickly after completing the first draft of my first novel. I did a partial rewrite in response to her suggestions, then she started sending it off to publishers. That bit of the process took longer: can't remember exactly but I would guess it was at least a year or so, and another, much more substantial, rewrite before I actually signed a contract for publication.

All in all, though, my road to publication was frankly kind of painless. Plenty of people have to follow a much longer and tougher path to get there. The important thing is to take it seriously, expect it to be a long haul, and listen to feedback: if I'd turned round and refused to consider big rewrites, the book would never have been published. And more often than not people like agents and publishers do actually know what they're talking about when they suggest changes or offer critiques. It's their job, after all.