What are you passionate about? What drives your writing? And just as important—do you write stories that other people like?
In this episode of Character Test, I talk with a young adult fantasy author about what it takes to write not just great novels, but novels that people like.
Derek Murphy is the author of dozens of dark fantasy and sci-fi books for teens. He’s a bestselling author and creative guru. He’s also a nomad, traveling around from castle to ancient European castle to write his books and invest in other writers.
Listen to our conversation on the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Android, Spotify, Stitcher, SimpleCast, or here below:
There’s a lot of trial and error along the path to building a successful author career, and Derek is familiar with a lot of trial and a lot of error. In this episode, we talk about Derek’s journey through art and how he built his career as an author, including:
- Why it’s okay to create art that other people like (and why Derek chose not to do that for a long time!).
- What makes creativity fun—and what to do when it’s not fun anymore.
- How to find your artistic passion.
- The secret to Derek’s success today.
- His unpopular opinion about Harry Potter.
- Why villains are Derek’s heroes, and what we can learn from them.
You can find Derek’s resources for writers at creativindie.com and his fiction at urbanepics.com.