Peter Philleo is a web site developer and cryptography and blockchain software developer by trade. He is an avid reader of fantasy and sci-fi, in both hardcopy and audiobook form. A long time writer for over two decades, he only recently has been driven to submit work for publication after joining a professional writing group. He alternates between living in Florida and Wisconsin depending on the season, with his wife, Erin, and two cats, and inactively maintains his own unfinished website at peterphilleo.com.
How long have you been writing and what got you started?
I’m in my mid-40s right now, and have been writing since my late teens (not counting the forced march of writing on demand in school classes). I’ve been an avid reader for as long as I was able to read, and that started generating ideas in my young head that needed to find their way onto paper.
What is the best piece of advice you have for new writers?
Avoid burnout. Don’t write so much for so long so that you become tired of it and it becomes a burden or a responsibility and you start hating it.
What is your favorite type of fiction and who are your favorite authors?
I’m a heavy reader of fantasy/sci-fi. Branden Sanderson is one of my favorite authors with his easy-to-read style and clever magic systems, followed closely by Mark Lawrence and his biting wit and excellent anti-heros, and Brent Weeks (who is taking his time with book 5 of the Lightbringer series). I’d add Patrick Rothfuss here too, but I’m putting him in the George R. R. Martin category of writers that I don’t trust will ever finish the series they started.
How do you measure success when it comes to your writing?
Definitely not with money! For some it might be word count or publishing credits, but I think any time an unbiased reader happens to like a story or it impacted them in some way, then I know the story was successful. It’s hard to bridge that gap between the writer and the reader, but social media and websites like this one that offer ways to comment on a story help open avenues of communication.
What tips do you have for finding time to write?
Schedule it, and place it in a time of day that works for you. It probably makes sense for some people to do it early in the morning when they’re fresh (or before kids wake up), and others might do it after a day of work and they’re looking to escape a little bit. But you have to schedule it at a time when won’t have distractions.
Are you an outliner or discovery writer? Or somewhere in between?
I’ve tried both routes. For short stories, I’ll make a bulleted list of points or phrases or twists I want to have in the story and refer to that as I write. For longer pieces (I have a couple novels in progress, like most writer), I have a more detailed outline and set of worldbuilding rules I try to follow. That said, my characters always seem to be unable to read and therefore don’t follow the plan I’ve laid out for them. I end up being a discovery writer more often than not.
How do you deal with rejections?
In the writers group I’m in, we all share in the pain of rejections. Everyone handles it differently. For people in our group that are submitting stories that are intensely personal or painful for them, the rejection is more than just non-acceptance of their work; it’s almost an invalidation of their pain or their experience. Being part of a writer support group helps you share that burden with others.
Do you participate in any online or in-person critique or writing groups?
Definitely. That’s the key to whatever success I’ve had and may have in the future. I jumpstarted my writing by being part of a Discord-based writing group, and there met an excellent group of diverse writers. Writing alone in a vacuum is hard. Writing with friends and sharing pieces for peer review and critique with people you’ve known for years and trust is incredibly productive.
What book are you reading right now?
A Time of Dread, from John Gwynne. It’s a bit of a slog right now as he ramps up the story to try and make me care about the characters.
Is there anything you’d like to plug? Feel free to share a link.
Definitely my writer’s group, INKubator. All writers are welcome. The website is at http://inkubatorcommunity.com, with our Discord server invite here: https://discord.gg/mv9hzaH
