My Blog’s 1 Year Anniversary + Q&A

On December 3rd 2017, Caleb E King A Young Writer’s Blog was created.

Now it is December 3rd once again. This time it is 2018.

Okay, okay, I know it’s only December 1st, but I only post on a Saturday and December 3rd wasn’t on a Saturday so forgive me, alright?

Anyway, it’s here!! My blog is officially 1 year old! YAY!!

I’ve hit over 2,000 views over the first year, already have 67 followers, (not counting my Email list, which has 64 in an of itself) and have posted over 50 posts, every single Saturday of this year!

And I have to say, I couldn’t have done it without your support. Every single one of you. So I want to thank you for taking even just a little of your precious time too look at my blog. You’re all awesome. Every single one of you! 🙂 I couldn’t have done it without your support.

Alrighty! Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for!

The Q&A!!!

Like I said, we will start with the first question I recieved and go to the last! Let’s dive right in! 🙂

1.

Q: What is your favorite book you’ve read in the main genre that you write?

A: If I had to say one book, not like a series name, I would have to say The Hobbit. It is so enjoyable and fun to read just by itself. If I could say a series name, the Ilyon Chronicles would be my choice.

2.

Q: What is the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

A: Start young, stick with it. Two of my writing instructors from The Young Writer’s Workshop said that, and I think it’s some of the most practical, straight forward advice ever.

3.

Q: Who is your favorite character you’ve ever created?

A: I love them all!!! But since I have to choose, I think Duke Gimplin (I’m sure I’ll change that last name XD). He is a young knight serving the Kingdom of Mail. He is really nice, but shy and sensitive. I feel like I can relate to him a lot, that’s probably why he’s my favorite.

4.

Q: Favorite ice cream flavor? 😛

A: Ooh!! Chocolate peanut butter caramel. I don’t care if it’s not made up (I’m not sure), it’s still my favorite! XD

5.

Q: Will you be famous someday?

A: How about you tell me? 😂 Honestly I have no idea what the Lord has in store for me but I would probably rather be just “well known” and not famous. 😛

6.

Q: Does writing energize or exhaust you?

A: ENERGIZE!!! One time we were coming home from a long trip and I felt awful and I realized, “I haven’t written anything for like, 3 days.” And so I said, “You know, when we get back home, I’m just gonna write!” 😃
7.

Q: Do you prefer to write stand-alone books or series? Why?

A: In the past I’ve done mainly stand-alone books, but now I’m leaning more towards writing series in the future (though I do have a few more ideas for some stand-alone novels). So to answer the question, now I think I prefer series. 🙂

8:

Q: What’s your writing process? How do you get from idea to finishing a book?

A: Well, first I get the initial spark of inspiration. It could be a song, a book, a movie, something someone said, anything really. After that I write it down and begin too expand it. Sometimes I’ll add several little sparks of inspiration I’ve collected and add them together to get a complete story. After stretching and forming the story, I outline it by writing tiny paragraphs of what will happen in each chapter. With the outline complete I move on with the first draft! After that comes editing, and because I’m still editing my novel, I don’t really know how that will end, but what I’ve done so far has been getting some people to read it, doing a ton of edits by myself, and then having beta readers look at it. Currently someone’s going through and editing it for grammatical errors and typos and such.

9:

Q: If you had to pick one fantasy creature to be a pet, what would it be?

A: DRAGON!!!

10:

Q: What have you found to be the best way to get your blog to new readers?

A: Let’s see…I’m really still working on this myself but what I’ve found is really helpful is to be involved in awesome writing communities such as Story Embers or The Young Writer’s Workshop, because there you can find like-minded people that would be excited to look at your blog if you told them about it. Also visiting other people’s blogs is great because when you comment on their post, they will then want to come and look at yours. See? Once someone who was reading a person’s blog saw my comment on it, went to my blog, and followed it. If I hadn’t commented on that blog, then that person never would have seen my blog and wouldn’t have enjoyed it and followed it. That’s pretty much all I’ve got for you, but I think it’s pretty helpful.

11:

Q: Where do you look for inspiration?

A: Everywhere!! Books, movies, music, someone talking, a joke, something stupid someone says, it doesn’t matter. If you turn on your brain to look for cool stuff, I’m pretty darn sure you’ll find some.

12:

Q: Do you ever daydream of just going with the cliché-writer-thing, and write in a coffee shop? 😉

A: Not really. I mean, I’ve never tried it, but I tend to be distracted if I’m not by myself in my room. Maybe one day I’ll try it just to see what happens, but I don’t think I would actually want to regularly do it.

13:

Q: Do you ever read over your writing and then start laughing over something you wrote that you forgot you wrote?

A: Yes!! So I was reading a battle scene in Mexlor Tournaments, and one of my main characters picks up her friend’s battle ax to fight with after she loses her sword. She swings it around and thinks how could he fight with this thing? It’s like carrying a fat pig into battle! A sharp fat pig, but a pig all the same!

When I read that I just burst out laughing!

14:

Q: Will you have beta readers for A Silence in the Shadows and Mexlor Tournaments?

A: I’ve already had beta readers for A Silence in the Shadows so I won’t be doing that again, but I will probably have beta readers for Mexlor Tournaments. Not in the near future though. I want to finish A Silence in the Shadows and then write a few other books before I begin to work on it.

15:

Q: How do you come up with ideas for your books?

A: Um…from everything. As I’ve said above, I get inspiration from books, movies, music, anything really.

16:

Q: What inspired you to start this blog?

A: Well, for one I’ve heard several times that a platform is really good to have when trying to get published, so that was my key inspiration, but also just to get my work out in the world where people could see it and begin to recognize me as a writer. (I guess that’s what a platform is, right? 😉)

17:

Q: What is your favorite chapter/moment/scene from “The Lord of the Rings?”

A: Definitely the ending scene when Sam picks Frodo up to carry him up Mount Doom. I just can’t get over the amazing feels of that part (in both book and movie)!
18:

Q: Who’s your favorite character in Lord of the Rings?

A: SAM!!! 🤩 His pure selflessness and loyalty inspires me a lot. And he’s really funny sometimes! I love how he always tries to look on the bright side of things and is constantly looking out for Frodo. 😋

19:

Q: If you could pick any writing career path (which you can), what would it be?

A: Um, I would probably want to write medieval fantasy novels. The only problem is that I doubt I could ever write fast enough or get famous enough to do that for a living so…yeah.

20:

Q: Did you REALLY read War and Peace?

A: Yes, yes I did.😏

21:

Q: How many times have you read Lord of the Rings?

A: I think five times, and I’ve read The Hobbit at least seven. 😁

22:

Q: Can I have your autograph? 😄

A: Sure! 😊

23:

Q: What is your favorite blog post?

A: Um…I really like the short stories…but also the writing tips ones. I would probably have to say “3 Common Mistakes Found in Fight Scenes” and then “Short Story: His Knight”

24:

Q: Where do you see yourself as a writer in five years? What about this blog?

A: Um, I would definitely want to be traditionally published by then (not counting on it but trying for it), have a couple novels under my belt, and be moving forward with more. As for the blog, I don’t really have any plans for it to change at the moment, but maybe I would actually have the domain calebeking.com instead of calebeking.wordpress.com! 😛

25:

Q: How many books do you own?

A: 319 😎

26:

Q: How often do you get Writer’s Block?

A: When I have something to work off of, NEVER!! If I am editing without any sure knowledge of what I’m trying to edit, ALL THE TIME!

27:

Q: What authors do you aspire to be like?

A: Chuck Black for his amazing themes, Andrew Peterson for the way he writes children’s fiction while keeping it serious and a great read for adults as well, Jaye L. Knight for the actual writing as well as her perfectly believable characters, John Flanagan for how he writes series and the adventure and excitement in his stories, J. R. R. Tolkien for the worldbuilding and history behind the story, and C. S. Lewis just because he’s an amazing writer!

28:

Q: Are cats or dogs better?

A: Dogs, but I’m fine with cats as long as they are nice. 🙂

29:

Q: Does being able to draw help your writing?

A: Um…not really?? I mean, it’s nice to be able to draw my characters, and I love making comics which is both drawing and writing put together, but when it comes down to novels, nope.

30:

Q: What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?

A: Hmm…I really enjoy setting up our Christmas tree because our whole family does it together and we have Christmas music going and egg nog all around! 😊

31:

Q:What do you want to be remembered for in 100-150 years?

A:Hmm…this is a hard one. I’ve never really thought about that. I suppose for my novels and for my comic books. (if I ever create a comic book company, which I want to do!) The answer is kinda on the fly, I would really have to think about this a lot to give your a certain answer. Great question though!

32:

Q: Wie and how did da chikkin cros da rode?

A: He uzed rooler skattes too get to da libary on da uver siide!
33:

Q:What is your favorite part of the writing process?

A:Definitely writing the first draft. I love just being able to plow forward and create the story the way I want to create it, instead of worrying about typos or anything.

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Well, that was a great question to end with, and I hope you guys all enjoy reading through the Q&A as much as I enjoyed answering them! Thanks so much for celebrating my blog’s first year anniversary with me, and I hope it has many more!

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Well, bye for now!

Caleb E King