20 Questions for fantasy author, Jim C. Hines - pt I

Today, I’m delighted to bring you the first part of an interview with fantasy author, cake lover and all around nice guy, Jim C. Hines aka jimhines, who took time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions about his work and his writing process.

FAWG:  What’s your favorite part of the writing process?
Jim: There are moments throughout the process where things simply click, and that’s a great feeling. Overall, I’d say probably revision. At that point, I have a better sense of the story, and I’m able to start to pull everything together. In my first draft, I write a story. When I revise, I make it good. I love that part.

FAWG: If you knew when you started writing what you know now, would you do anything different?
Jim: I started writing because I thought it looked like fun, and figured it couldn’t be that hard to write a story. So it’s probably a very good thing that I didn’t know then what I know now! 

FAWG: What’s your novel-writing process?
Jim: Write the outline. Start writing the book. Get about 25,000 words into the book and realize the outline sucks. Write a new one. Go back to writing the book. Get about 60,000 words in, and realize the new outline is equally broken. Write a third outline. Finish the first draft of the book. Rewrite the whole thing. Write the third draft. Freak out about my deadlines. Decide whether a fourth rewrite is necessary.  Polish the whole thing the best I can, and send it off to the agent.

FAWG: Pantser or outline?
Jim: I’ve never been able to do seat-of-the-pants writing. My brain needs something to hold on to, a sense of structure and the belief, however misguided, that I know where I’m going with a story. For the first draft, the outline lets me hold the story in my head. After that, each finished draft gives me the basic structure and foundation for the next rewrite.

FAWG: What’s the smartest thing you’ve done as a writer?
Jim: Took a job with state government instead of a better-paying private sector job. The state job allowed me to write during my lunch breaks, and meant I wasn’t getting paged after hours or on weekends. It left me with enough energy and brainpower at the end of the day to concentrate on the writing, which is what I really want to do.

FAWG: Is your short story writing process different to the one you use for novels.
Jim: About the same, only shorter.

FAWG:  How long did it take after typing ‘The End’ in that first draft of Goblin Quest before you got a publishing offer?
Jim: I finished the first draft of Goblin Quest in late 2000, I believe.  Got an offer from Five Star on January 7, 2004. Then DAW picked up the series, including the mass market reprint of Goblin Quest, in early 2006.

FAWG: After the next book, Red Hood’s Revenge comes out, what’s your next project?
Jim: Red Hood’s Revenge is scheduled to come out on July 6 of this year. This is the third book in my princess series, which is basically the old fairy tales redone Charlie’s Angels style. I’m working on the fourth and final book, The Snow Queen’s Shadow. It looks like I may also be doing another book, but I can’t talk about that one until the contracts are signed. (I’m so excited. My friends keep getting Secret Projects, and finally I have one of my very own!).

FAWG: What’s in your writer’s trunk?
Jim: About 50 or so bad short stories, 4 painfully bad novels, and an old towel.

FAWG: What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made as a writer?
Jim: There are so many to choose from! One mistake was trusting the more established authors who told me “This is the One True Way you must break in as a writer.” (This is one of the things that eventually led me to do my first novel sale survey earlier this year.) Another was being too impatient. I have a mainstream book called Goldfish Dreams that sold to a very small press in a royalties-only deal. I’m happy with the book, but it didn’t sell very well. Today, I have no doubt that had I waited, I could have eventually gotten a better deal for that book, but I was tired of rejection and just wanted to publish the book.

(click here to read part II)

Jim C. Hines is the author numerous novels and short stories, including the popular Goblin Quest series, featuring Jig Dragonslayer.  His latest book, Red Hood’s Revenge will be published by DAW on July 6th.