Write Now with Les Carroll

Who are you?

Les – Les Carroll, United States Air Force (retired)

Hometown: Columbia, South Caroling

Current Residence: Chapin, South Carolina

What do you write?

I’ve written all my adult life. I got serious about writing in college when I worked for newspapers and also started writing features for magazines. I published three books in the 1990s (in my mid-30s). I’ve written and produced several acclaimed documentary films. I love the process of telling a story. If it’s a documentary film, then the characters in the film are real people. If it’s a novel, then the characters and events are created. I really enjoy that process too. My documentary Bringing the Fallen Home aired nationally on public television in 2014 and was a kind of preamble to my autobiographical novel This Troubled Ground. These two projects stirred my commitment and determination to honor with my writing those who wear a US military uniform.

Where do you write?

Where do you write? Describe your writing environment. Include the tools, apps, notebooks, pens, etc. you prefer using.

I write whenever I can find the time. John Grisham writes four hours a day, every day. He’s followed that schedule for decades, which is why he’s one of the top-selling novelists of all time. I want to be that dedicated. As for my writing environment, sometimes it’s in the den of my house with my computer in my lap. Sometimes I can a more secluded spot, which is helpful. I wrote some of my current novel Last Day on the Blue Wonder while sitting in the Gloucester House restaurant researching the book.

When do you write?

I’m not as consistent as I want to be, but I am dedicated. When I have a story that I want to tell, I can really focus on it and get the story written. When I am locked in on a new project, a typical writing session would be a few hours. Then I might take a short break and try to write hard for another hour or two. When I have a novel in progress I work very hard. I set my own deadlines because I know exactly when I have to turn in a manuscript to get a novel published and released by a certain date.

Why do you write?

I write because I love the storytelling process. I think I’ve fueled by the hope of what the story can be and how it can impact and move people. Speaking of people, they inspire me. Even if the character is fictitious, it can be based on an actual person or can at least have traits, aspirations and accomplishments that I’d like to put into a story.

How do you overcome writer's block?

Sometimes when I’m not making progress on a certain project, I might put it aside and work on something else. But the three novels I’ve published were the three stories I wanted to tell. I have a dozen more stories to tell and novels to write, but some seem to be more dynamic than others. In my most recent novel, Last Day on the Blue Wonder, the story came to me quickly and I worked hard to get the manuscript written as fast as possible. I wanted to see what the story could be so I pushed hard to tell it.

Bonus: What do you enjoy doing when not writing?

Boat, fishing, swimming, traveling. Even when traveling for pleasure, I’m always looking for characters, settings and plots that could become a novel.

My thanks to Les Carroll for today's interview.