An Interview with Steven Brust

Steven Brust is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He has nineteen novels published. The more popular novels are about Valdo Taltos and center around a fiction world called Dragaera. When Steven Brust isn't writing he's playing music and has even produced a record.

How did you get into writing? At what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I think I started wanting to write around 4th or 5th grade. Certainly by 6th. I got serious about it in high school when I read Zelazny's Lord of Light and realized I wanted to make other people feel the way that made me feel.

What was your first book or story that you completed? Did you ever get it published?

I think I finished two or three short stories that were rejected from various places before finishing my first novel, Jhereg. It was published in 1983.

How did you finally get published? When were you able to write on a full time basis? Please explain your success story?

I submitted it to Ace/Berkely in 1980, I believe, and they bought it a year later. I quit my day job in 1986 to write full time. By then I had, I think, four books out and was working on another. There were two things that contributed most to my being able to go full time: first, I got wonderful covers, especially on my first novel. Second, a rather bizarre publishing fluke took place with my third novel, so it ended up a "Lead title" for the month, which really set my career going. If it weren't for those two things, I wouldn't have been able to go full-time so quickly, if ever.

How do you stay motivated to finish a novel? How do you stay focused?

My approach is to always write the book I wish someone else had written, because I want to read it. So what keeps me going is wanting to know how it comes out. Also, there are some delightful moments in writing--where you nail a phrase just the way you want to. Those help get you through the tough times.

What is your writing schedule like? Do you write in the mornings, evenings, and for how long?

I wake up around 8 or 9 hours after I fell asleep, make coffee, check email and start playing whatever game I'm currently addicted to--these days it's online poker. All this time, my current project is open on another screen. As I do whatever it is I'm doing, the book keeps staring at me. As I think of the next sentence, I write it. As the project moves along, I'll spend more and more time actually writing, until the last two or three chapters are often written in just a few days. Also, as I start to get tired, things often open up, and I'm able to get more done. The result of this is that when I finally go to sleep, I've probably been up around 16 or 17 hours. So the time I get up advances by an hour or two every day.

If you get writer’s block, how do you get over it?

So far, I've never had it. I mean, I've had periods of time when I didn't know what the next sentence was going to be, but that isn't writers bloc as I understand the term. I hope I never get it. If I do, I'll probably panic.

What piece of advice would you give to someone thinking of becoming a writer? What is a good starting point for them?

What I said above: Write the story you wish someone else had written because you want to read it.

To find out more about Steven Brust and his work check out Steven Brust's website.