Booksie Writer Interviews: The Compilation

Chapter 16: Casting Stones with Destroyer of jokes

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He threw the five runes out, across the incoming tide, skipping them like stones that would eventually sink. A moment later, bubbles floated up from the bottom of the lake like fine champagne resting in a glass. And, so as the waterline washed up and back, the jetsam of stones were brought upon the shoreline; carrying with them a weightless curiosity, arriving into the sand, one way up and one way down.

The first was scooped up, with its marking aglow and from the heat of his hand, it was revealed in the shape of a question mark, so he asked,

Question 1 : Who would you like to take a writing class from ( as in an author you admire) ? ( alive or not )

That would be the now deceased H.G.Wells, for quite a few reasons:

He was a writer who could present visionary things regardless of what people's opinion was at the time, he didn't aim to be 'right', he aimed to speak what was true. While opinion of people on things such as aliens, time travel, evolution and devices of the future was either disregarded due to religious beliefs or warped by biases, he managed to surface above these things, Wells was as much a sci-fi writer as he was an incredibly stubborn and uncompromising scholar.

When it comes to his qualities as a writer... well, he was good enough at establishing a believable story, that a massive panic occurred, people shred water towers with guns thinking they were tripods, many rose up to defend themselves, children were hidden away from evil aliens, people listened to their radios in horror as they heard about. All that had to be done to start this, was to start reading his 'The war of the worlds' without announcing that it was a book. I would definitely ask him for a lesson in world building and immersion.

I'd like to ask him the thought process on making something impossible to become plausible, this is what I always aim for. Plus, he was actually a teacher and would write short comedy, so, he wouldn't be a boring guy to learn from either.

Seems like a damn good choice to me :D

He reached down and plucked another from the grainy sand, it's marking in the shape of upside down question mark and, he asked,

Question 2: What is your favorite word?

Antidisestablishmentarianism, because this word has more letters than most people's full names.

He gathered the last three stones in his hand and shook them like dice, casting one across the beach and asked,

Question 3 : Where would you like to time travel to ( past, and future ) and what would you do while visiting there?

If I had such a chance, I would travel to Europe in the 1300's (with prior knowledge of hygiene, ye olde languages and a vaccine against black death). To be honest, nothing could prevent the epidemic of black death, certainly, not a single person, but that would be just the best time to tell the normal folk about what soap is and why it is a good a idea to dig small tunnels along the streets to spill litter into, which is called sewerage. Seriously, it would help so much if getting a scratch on the street didn't mean certain death. And, also, it would be good to tell these plague doctors about how diseases actually work. Hell, it would be nice to bring some more modern knowledge there, like accurate maps, greenhouses to raise crops at winter, meditation, more advanced medicine, a universal language, math, insulation in houses and much more. Apart from crafts and scientific knowledge, people at these times would seriously need some help with morals and ruling ethics, obviously, the catholic church would try to shut that down immediately, but once you recite Niccolo Machiavelli to enough people, the seed is planted and many people are now politically and spiritually adequate(even better if that philosophy would be spread in army or high-ups), what happens next would be up to them, but I bet that an army that has only upper-class men would be rather small compared to a revolutionary army of educated people in which men, women, slaves and people of any social position can serve.

Otherwise, I'd take it as a personal goal to tell as many predictions for the future that seem stupid, but are actually immediate reality, just so I can tell someone in power 'I told ya it was gonna be like that, doofus/baka/fool/b*tch.'.

Two runes left, he separated them into each hand and threw the stone in his right hand, high up into the air,

Question 4: When was the last time you :
Went to the movies? What movie did you see?
Went to the bookstore to purchase a book ? What book ?
Went to the music store? What music do you enjoy?
Went out to a sit down restaurant? What did you order?

I honestly haven't been to a movie theatre for a long time, about two years. The movie I was watching at that last time was 'Star wars VII: the force awakening'. It was a great movie, still waiting for a new installment in star wars.

I had visited a book store in July this year, I had bought a S.T.A.L.K.E.R book in an attempt to study how to build up atmosphere.

I don't go to music stores, I listen to music on the internet, to a lot of it. But the last tracks I enjoyed were 'Something just like this-the chainsmokers & coldplay' and 'Bad Apple' from touhou.

I went to a restaurant a week ago, I ordered pasta carbonari, sassy fruit tea and cheese cream soup with shrimp. Beautiful stuff.

After the fourth stone had landed, imbedding itself in the granules of time and pulverized coral, he opened his left hand holding the last rune, marked with the question,

Question 5: Why do you like to write,?

Your favorite things about it...

And...Your least favorite ( things outside your comfort zone ) that you haven't yet attempted but would like to one day...

I like to write because it is possible to deliver deep and abstract ideas in colorful packaging, same goes basically for any media.
My favorite thing to write are 'what if?' scenarios, like alternative history or unexplored ideas in storytelling. For example:
-What if the main hero of story follows a prophecy for saving the world, but in the end, when that very 'hero prophecy' is just bullshit or that it was actually meant for someone else and this 'true hero' who is nothing more than a spineless goody-two-shoes, will now have all credit for the main hero's hard work, faith and determination, sending him into a downward spiral of disappointment, despair and anger, just to be forgotten by history or to take what is rightfully his by force.
My least favorite thing to do, is to try to make interesting filler and fail, again, again and again. Seriously, this sucks as much for the writer as it does for the viewer, not being able to put something interesting in between story events feels like walking in untied shoes on a ballet or juggling with mittens on.
I haven't yet attempted to write a story without dialogues, but I hope to do this one day. To be able to write a story without dialogue means reaching the highest form of expressiveness, something to be truly proud of.

He threw the last stone down among the others, and they pulled themselves toward one another, their magnetic nature bonding together to form a final stone, all five symbols now revealing one last marking.

It was in the shape of;

And, asked the question...

Thank you Destroyer of jokes.

Every question has a unique answer and every answer provides a unique way of looking at things.

May others read your unique way of, looking at things.

One stone at a time.

Submitted: September 17, 2017

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