David Farland, aka Dave Wolverton, is an award-winning New York Times bestselling science fiction and fantasy author. His first novel, On My Way to Paradise, is the odyssey of a Panamanian doctor in the far future who is forced to fight on a genocidal war between two corporations on another world.

How did you approach your first book? Is that different from how you approached the next? The most recent?

I began writing On My Way to Paradise while I was sick with a fever. Certain bizarre images began appearing to me in dreams—scenes of battle on an alien world, strange characters. So I began trying to write their story. That’s not much different than my current approach to writing.

What did you learn writing your first novel? Your most recent?

As a new writer, I really struggled with plotting. I know, the book won awards and tremendous critical praise, but I really had to work to get it right. With my most recent novel, I’m paying far more attention to tiny details, making sure that the inner and outer worlds of my characters are fully evoked.

How much do you plan out in advance, and how?

I’ve written some novels by the seat of my pants, and I’ve completely outlined others. I find that I like a middle ground, where I know where I’m going but don’t know how I will get there. It keeps the writing exciting and lively for me, allowing me to make discoveries as I go.

How do you approach writing characters?

There are all different kinds of ways to do that. Sometimes I will base a character on someone that I know (just slightly). Other times I will look at what I need, the role, and base my character on that. But most of the time, I find that the characters invent themselves as I’m writing. I will do “interviews” with my characters in my head, try to learn how they feel about others in the book, their secret history. So I look for a very organic approach.

How do you give individual characters their own “voice”?

That’s the hardest part about writing. I don’t ever feel that I know my character until I get that voice right. So I explore the character, usually for the first 100 pages of the novel, until I have it.

How do you decide on pacing?

I don’t worry about that—so long as something fun, exciting, or emotionally moving is happening on the page.

How do you decide what to reveal to the audience, and when?

I’m not the kind of author who likes to hide information. The story takes its twists and turns, and so I move with it, revealing information when it is needed. Sometimes I will be writing and make discoveries, suddenly realize that one of my characters has a secret, for example, and it surprises even me. But that happens rarely. I like to put my characters in conflict, then let them do their best to try to get out of the situation.

When it comes to description, do you think there’s such a thing as too much? Too little? How do you decide what’s your “right” amount.

There is too much description, and too little. Every author has his or her own internal tastes, and there is no way to impose your own sensibilities on an author. For example, Robert Jordan is brilliant, but he slows the pacing down too much for me be giving too much detail. Does that mean that he’s bad? Not at all. He’s a wonderful author. But he likes vanilla and I prefer chocolate.

Too little detail can be a real problem when the reader is left not knowing certain things. How tall is a character? What does his voice sound like? What does he smell like? What does he want most? If the author doesn’t give that kind of information, the story suffers.

Do you have a specific place to write? A separate computer?

I have a laptop that I write on, and I have a couple of recliners in the house where I prefer to write.

Do you listen to music as you write? If so, what?

Very rarely. If I do listen to music, I prefer listening to movie soundtracks—Conan the Barbarian, Harry Potter, Star Wars, that kind of thing.

Do you finish, then edit, or do you edit as you go?

Both. I usually start my writing day by tweaking my work from the previous day, then compose forward.

Do you wait until you have an idea, or do you sit down and write every day no matter what?

I don’t have to wait for ideas. I have always had too many. So I write every day.

What’s your biggest hindrance to finishing a book?

Questionnaires. No, seriously, there is a lot of business that goes with being a professional writer—working on blogs, creating contracts, and so on. That gets in the way of the fun part—actually writing.

How many people get to read your unfinished, or recently finished, work?

I don’t usually use writing groups anymore. When I finish something, I send it out to my editors cold.

What do you feel are your strengths as a writer? What advice would you give for someone who wants to improve that aspect of their writing?

I feel that my strong suit is setting, in creating an engrossing world. I’m writing a little book on the topic, and there is no way that I could even begin to cover the topic here.

What would you like to improve with your writing, and how would you go about doing it?

I’ve been writing for 25 years, and I’m always trying to improve. I’m trying to add more intellectual and emotional depth to my work by thinking out possible scenarios longer.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out, trying to finish (or start!) their first novel.

Write every day. Read other great works. Study the craft—through seminars, classes, reading books.

Who are your favorite authors?

I like so many, it’s hard to name them all. Here are just a few—John Grisham, Dan Brown, Orson Scott Card, Brandon Sanderson, J.K. Rowling. As you can see, I have pretty mainstream tastes.

If you could ask your favorite author one question, what would it be? What would you like to learn from them?

I’d like to find out from Orson Scott Card how he got Ender’s Game made into a movie after all of these years.

What’s your favorite book of all time?

Hmmm. . . . I’ve read The Lord of the Rings repeatedly over the years, so I’ll pick it. But there are so many other great books out there!

Have you read any useful books that helped you with story, characters, or writing in general?

Try Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card, or Million Dollar Outlines by David Farland.

How did you approach your cover artist, and what was that experience like?

With this work, I have a young artist who moved in nearby, Paule Pederson, and he offered to do a cover for me. Since then, I’ve hired him work on some 20 other projects.

What software do you use, if other than MS Word?

I don’t use anything but MS Word. There are some programs for plotting that I’ve checked out, but they use decision-tree logic that often doesn’t really apply to my story well, so I just use DavidFarland version 1.0, which is tucked neatly into my head.

Are there any websites you found helpful in regards to eBook formatting?

I let my assistant handle that, and she just used the formats suggested by the eBook publishers.

Any tricks you’ve learned in eBook formatting?

Nope.

Do you sell across all eBook platforms? Has one done better for you than others?

I sell best on Kindle, then do well on Barnes and Noble’s sites. The iBook hasn’t done well for me yet.

How do you feel about KDP Select (i.e. Kindle Owners' Lending Library)?

I’ve used it, but don’t any more. There’s nothing wrong with it, but I’m not convinced that it has helped increase my readership at all.

Do you sell print versions of your books? If so, what company do you use, and why?

I just started using Smashwords a few weeks ago, and it seems to be working well for me.

Do you do any marketing? If so, what works for you, what hasn’t?

Yes, I have a blog, an email list, twitter accounts, and Facebook. I find that all of them work in harmony. Twitter and Facebook work best for me, so far.

Did you enjoy being a part of your StoryBundle? Have you seen an increase in sales separate from the Bundle?

I enjoyed it very much, and I did see an increase in sales. I was surprised that a number of people bought On My Way to Paradise this month separately from the bundle. I don’t know if it drove my e-book sales aside from that. They tend to be rather erratic.

David Farland/Dave Wolverton is an international bestselling author with dozens of works to his credit. His most recent novel, Nightingale, won the Hollywood Book Festival for Best Book of the Year, and also won the International Book Award for Best Young Adult Novel of the Year, along with several other awards. Dave has worked as a videogame designer, novelist, editor, writing instructor, and as the lead judge for one of the world’s largest writing contests.

You can learn more about him at www.davidfarland.com.

Geoffrey Morrison is a freelance writer and editor. His first novel, Undersea, was featured in the first StoryBundle. You can follow him on Twitter @TechWriterGeoff.