Peter Hodges

We’re continuing our chat with Lee Stephen today with questions that focus on his personal philosphy and his writing techniques. I would suggest that you read Part One of the interview before starting here.

It was a real pleasure having Lee drop by the site!

9. When you are writing, are you organized and methodical, working off of an outline? Or do you have a general idea where you’re going to go and then let the words take you where they may?

It’s a little bit of both. I definitely know where I’m going, and for the most part I know how I’ll get there. But if, as I’m writing, I get a sudden stroke of inspiration, I rarely turn it down. I guess I follow a bend-but-don’t-break kind of outline. There’s a danger in being too rigid. I have a little saying I like to follow that goes, “moments of inspiration are better than months of preparation.” If a  great idea suddenly strikes you, do something with it, even if you have to tweak what you already had in mind.

10. How much research do you do in the course of writing a novel?

More than anyone knows. I have everything from sunset and sunrise times (to the minute) for every day of the year in Novosibirsk, to foreign dialect specific to a single town in Ireland. In everything possible, I aim for realism. I really take that to heart medically. I talk to the director of our parish hospital on many occasions, to make sure I get injuries right. Those are really my “big three” when it comes to realism: geography, dialect, and medical information.

I do a lot of research after I’ve written a book, since actually writing it is the longest, most frustrating part. It’s much easier to go through the manuscript afterward and make everything accurate that needs to be accurate. There are some things that need to be researched before I write them, but things like dialect and geography can come later.

Realism ties into the honesty I was talking about earlier. A book can be great on its own, but it’s going back and fine-tuning those little details that can truly make a book special. Here are a few examples from “Dawn of Destiny”:

- Researched layout of city of Cleveland
- Researched layout of city of Chicago
- Researched dialects of the United States
- Researched town-specific dialect for Broadford, Ireland
- Researched Blue Creek, Texas
- Researched ranking structures of Army and Navy / Formulated originalEDEN rank system
- Researched Irish tea
- Researched and reinvented profane language
- Researched athletic “suicide drills”
- Researched United States climates

Those are just from skimming the first 60 pages of “Dawn of Destiny,” barely before anything even happens. The book is 325 pages long. The above doesn’t even include anything medical or from a foreign setting. For the whole of book one, you can probably multiply the above list by ten. That list would be longer if not for personal experience in some areas, too. One of my college roommates was from Texas, so I had Texan dialect and mannerisms pretty much down for the character of Jayden.

Details are the things that matter. Do you have to get everything perfect? No. Perfection is impossible. But put forth the effort to try. Trust me, someone out there will really appreciate it. By the way, I’m a stickler for dialect because as a Cajun and Louisiana native, I am yet to hear the Cajun dialect done correctly in any movie or book. Hollywood’s failure is my fuel. Anyway, that’s lagniappe (you have to look that one up yourself).

11. How long does it take you to write a novel-length manuscript?

“Dawn of Destiny” took six years. I was learning how to write as I was writing. I probably rewrote it a dozen times. Now it probably takes between a year and a year-and-a-half to pump out a novel. Since the books after ‘Outlaw Trigger’ will most likely all be longer, it’s taking a little more time.

I go through spurts of inspiration. Since I really only write when I’m inspired, I might go for two months without touching a book. But then I’ll pump out 15,000 words in a weekend, and 40,000 or more in a month. It’s a constant ebb and flow. Thankfully, I don’t have to worry about deadlines (another perk of doing it myself). As you can tell, I’m big on following inspiration. I want every page of every book to be inspired,not just something I came up with because it needed to be there. I think it makes for a more enjoyable read. That’s an area where I feel for authors who have deadlines. I couldn’t imagine having that kind of burden on my creativity.

12. In your opinion what is the weakest aspect of your writing? What is the strongest? How do you overcome your weakness(es)?

Thankfully, my weakest aspect doesn’t show up in the final product. I have a tendency to add too much to the story, in particular, with characters. Epic has well over a hundred named characters in only three books (book three not being out yet). That’s a lot. I have to be careful that I don’t completely convolute the story with new faces. For example…I recently removed a character from book three entirely. It was a new character that really wasn’t serving any purpose other than being new. So after some careful thought, this character got the backspace.

Did it take a lot of effort to remove this person from the story? Of course. The manuscript got several thousand words shorter. But the book is better because of it.

No one knows my characters like me, but I do have a pretty good feel for how characters are going to be perceived while I’m writing them. There are a lot of names and faces, but not too many to be remembered by readers. I have a pretty good format for familiarizing readers with names. I introduce characters, I establish them, then I reinforce them while introducing someone else. It’s that constant pattern: introduce, establish, reinforce. If it starts getting out of hand, I can usually sense it and ease off the accelerator.

I think my strongest point is also character-based, and that’s my honesty. I want every character to be realistic. I work hard to make everyone human. There are no “red shirts” in Epic - nameless soldiers created to die. In fact, I love NOT killing minor characters. Everyone,from the main cast to background faces, has an identity.

I can offer no better example of honesty than Scott Remington. Scott’s struggles with faith are completely real. I know this, because many of his struggles are patterned after my own. There’s a moment in book one where a character dies, and in reflection, Scott thinks, “he probably went to hell.” The moment he thinks it, he regrets it, and for a while afterward he hates himself. I’m ashamed to say I’ve had similar thoughts. Is that fun to admit? Not at all. I hate admitting it. But it’s honest. It’s the truth. I take faith seriously, and I try to portray it seriously. Even though Epic is not a Christian series, I am a Christian who has used his own experiences to create a spiritual character. If you ever wanted to know what it’s like being a person of faith, start reading Epic. He is as real a religious figure as you’ll ever read, even if it’s not always attractive.

The kind of honesty I talked about with Scott is the same kind of honesty I try to apply to every character, main or minor. None of them are minor to me.

13. Military science fiction is a crowded field. How would you differentiate your work from others in the marketplace? What makes your approach to story/character unique?

There are a lot of things that make Epic unique. One thing that I really think it has going for it is that Epic is character-based, not setting-based. The series, while taking place in a battle for Earth, is not about a battle for Earth. It’s about one man’s journey through it all, as a character who plays an integral role. Epic is completely and utterly personal. You won’t find techno-babble, nor will I try to impress you with my vast knowledge of science (I use the term “vast” very loosely). You will find, however, human stories. You’ll find relationships, the good and the bad. The back of “Dawn of Destiny” explains that it’s about a man who leaves everything behind - his future, his fiancée, his life - to fight in a war he feels called to. The series never stops being about that.

14. Do you view your work as an author as a calling? If so, can you share a few anecdotes regarding this?

Definitely. I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m a Christian author, and though I can say with all certainty that the Epic series will never lead anyone to Christ (in the book, Christianity doesn’t even exist), I would love to use whatever popularity it gains as a pedestal to share my own testimony to those who are interested in hearing it. But even though Christianity isn’t present in the book, Scott’s faith is definitely patterned after it. Like I said in one of my earlier answers, I really hope readers can see what a true walk of faith is like through his eyes. If that gets them interested in spirituality and they happen to stumble upon the testimony on my website, all the better.

If anyone would like to read my testimony, by all means please do so.It’s not sugarcoated. There are a lot of things even I don’t understand about Christianity, faith, and salvation. All I can do is be honest, and I’ll let God take care of the rest. Check it out at http://www.epicuniverse.com/testimony/ .

15. What is your philosophy of life? How does that influence the way you write?

I’ve probably said the word “honesty” two dozen times already, but it really has a lot to do with who I am. I’m not out to impress anyone. I’m a simple guy. I have no problem telling people I’m a dork at heart. I’m not very flashy. I drive the same green Ford Ranger I’ve driven since high school, and hopefully I can drive it for the rest of my life. I wear hand-me-downs when they fit. I occasionally listen to Neil Diamond.None of those things I mentioned would be considered trendy by any means, but that’s fine with me. It seems like the world is becoming more and more like a popularity contest, with everyone trying to outdo everyone else, and trying to make their neighbors wish they were them. I’m not about that.

I think that carries over onto Epic. I’m not trying to impress anyone with controversial commentaries on society or layers of risqué material.I’m just out to tell a story with honest characters. Maybe it’s old fashioned, but if it is, so be it. Sometimes old fashioned is nice.

16. What is your day job? Do you hope to write full-time one day?

I work as an emergency coordinator for the Department of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. I’ve been there since the summer of 2005, just in time to work through Hurricane Katrina (without a doubt the roughest experience of my life). I feel honored to do what I do, but if I did have the means to write full time and do nothing else, that would definitely be my dream life. I’m working on it.

17. What’s the best advice you can give authors who are just starting out?

I’ll pass on the words that Barbara Colley impressed upon me: endeavor to persevere. It may take a while to get that first book out, but keep trucking away. Don’t give up. Everyone one of us has experienced the frustrations of writing at some point. You aren’t alone.

If you don’t mind my mentioning it for those interested in talking about Epic itself, we do have a community forum at
www.epicuniverse.com/forums/ . It’s a great place to talk about everything from plot points to character attributes. It’s a young community, but one looking to grow.

Thanks so much for the interview! It was a blast to do, and hopefully the readers enjoyed it as well.

-Lee Stephen