Tell us about your current book/project
I just finished a prequel to my YA sci-fi/fantasy series Ted Saves the World called The Soul Choice. Once you’ve created a world, it’s so fun to attack it from a different angle. It allows you to see the entire story in a completely new way. It’s something I’d recommend all storytellers do.
What makes a story great?
Sex and drugs. Well, maybe. I think that there’s no one thing that makes a story great. All the rules people put upon stories can help beginners, but it really comes down to being compelling. If it gets people to turn the page, it’s a story. Amazing documentaries are stories. Three sentences can be a story. As long as readers can’t turn away and want to find out what happens next, it’s a story. You can abandon all other writing advice, work on learning to tell a better story, and you’ll probably succeed.
If you could do it all over again, which mistakes would you make more quickly this time?
I’d write more and whine less. There was lots of whining. I’m surprised people put up with me.
Plotter, pantser, or some mix of both?
A reformed pantser who’s now a plotter. The funny thing is, I think plotting is just a faster and shorter form of pantsing.
Tell us something we don’t know.
I was on the show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and won $20,300. It all went to credit cards and the wedding fund. That was some good wedding cake.
Which Hogwarts house would the sorting hat have put you in, and why?
I’d want to say Gryffindor. Who wouldn’t? But who knows. Hufflepuff? They seemed like alright folks.
Author Bryan Cohen is the author of Ted Saves the World, the first book in a new YA sci-fi/fantasy series, and a collection of creative writing prompts books.
His books have sold over 40,000 copies. You can pick up your free copy of Ted Saves the World here.
Read all of Jim’s interviews here.