Today’s Author Spotlight features award-winning author TJ Knight. TJ’s stories have appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Every Day Fiction, the Starlight Anthology series, and now Writers of the Future volume 39.
TJ began writing choose-your-own adventure stories as an eleven-year old. Nowadays, he’s working on a middle-grade fantasy trilogy, with a second trilogy (a YA sci-fi post-alien destruction story) in the works.
You can read more about TJ on his website at https://authortjknight.com. You can also find him on Facebook at AuthorTJKnight and on Instagram at author_tjknight.
On with the Spotlight questions!
Morgan: You entered the Writers of the Future contest thirty-two times and racked up results in every category, from straight rejection all the way up to finalist. How did it feel to finally win the contest?
TJ Knight: There are many emotional adjectives I could use here. Instead, I’ll choose: Liberating. See, before I’d started entering, I was writing novels and enjoying the heck out of that. I entered with the few short stories I had lying around and on my third submission, I reached Finalist (ultimately placed 4th). That hooked me pretty hard, and I stopped my novel writing because I only had to move up one teeny tiny little place. Little did I know that would take eleven more years.
M: What writing skills or habits did participating in the contest teach you?
TJ: One picks up a lot of skills in twelve years. Ha! I’ll mention my favorite, which is the moral choice. This skill, or revelation, changed how I frame a story from the beginning. Everything must drive the character toward their own personal moral choice.
For Luke Skywalker, it wasn’t about destroying the bad guy, right? He had his chance. Instead, he made the moral choice not to – to remain on the side of good – and it nearly cost him his life. Would have, had not someone else made a moral choice of their own. We rarely see two back-to-back moral choices like that, and that’s part of the reason the first trilogy is so beloved. Three movies built toward those few minutes of emotional intensity.
M: Who are some of your favorite authors, and what do you enjoy most about their work?
TJ: Laini Taylor’s writing is what I want my writing to be. There are times it feels like my brain is being tickled when I read her books. My winning story was most influenced by her style. The way she uses similes and well-timed italics have a way of doubling the effects of the situations the characters are in. I love that.
M: What’s the worst writing advice you ever heard?
TJ: “Always write a fresh story.” Blasphemy, I know. It’s like Heinlein’s rules or whatever, and that’s great for everyone who needs to hear it, but I’m a rewriter. I spend as much time with an old story as I do with new ones. Ain’t no one can tell me what to do with my personal time at my computer, right?
To have the most stellar career, sure, I should always be writing new, new, new. But to have the continuing desire to get out of bed at four AM and sit at my PC in the dark and mash my keyboard, well, I am going to write (or rewrite) whatever the heck I want.
Did my career suffer? Possibly. Would my career have suffered if I got frustrated and quit? Definitely.
M: Everyone writes for different reasons. What does writing do for you?
TJ: Personal growth. I like the feeling that I’m not wasting my time. Sure, I’ve only had a few stories published, and I have way more on my PC than in the world, but on a personal, internal, “me” level, I feel productive when I write.
Okay, how ‘bout this. All those stories helped move me forward, become better. So, I needed them to be where I am now, which is hopefully on the cusp of novel publication. If not, then I’ll write more. And more. And it will be what I like (see above) or there’s no point.
M: What does your writing routine look like?
TJ: Alarm (most days, not all). Coffee. Check some sports scores, let the caffeine do its job, then open my WIP. Put my headphones on, find some progressive trance, reread what I’d written the day before, then write new words.
That’s the ideal. Doesn’t always happen, but when it does, I’m a happy dude.
M: You went to Hollywood and attended a writing workshop with the other winners of the Writers of the Future contest. What did you learn coming away from that experience that you didn’t realize going into it?
TJ: I learned that I can handle being in the company of others. Mostly. I still struggle at times. I tend to overcompensate for my social awkwardness by being bubbly.
Everyone swears I’m an extrovert, the only one in the bunch, they said. Oh no, that’s my INFJ chameleon ability. I smile and shake hands and nod and laugh, then I go to my hotel room and hide for an hour to decompress.
M: What activities beyond writing also vie for your attention?
TJ: Exercise, although I’ve managed to fit that in during my work-a-day hours. Cooking/baking, which I do after work or on weekends. Hmm. See, that’s why getting up and writing is good. There’s nothing else to do at that time of day.
M: What advice do you have for people who want to write but feel they lack the time or skills?
TJ: Time is tough. There’s plenty of folks who truly don’t have it and have to fit in some sporadic writing time when they can. Perhaps dictating could help.
Overall, I’d recommend consistency. Discover a time of day to consistently write, so it’s a known/unchangeable thing, then make the time to do it (“make”, not “find” = key). If you miss a day, just try to get in there the next day.
If I oversleep, I miss the day. I’m bummed, then I set my alarm so I don’t miss two in a row.
As for skills, be teachable. I know, I know, I said write what makes you happy. But you also want to grow. Read how-to books and use them to patch your weaknesses. Write flash fiction and master the art of doubling impactful words. Submit, get feedback, edit, improve.
Read more about TJ Knight and find links to his published works on his website.
