chickaDEE Exclusive: Chris Tougas Interview
Hi chickaDEE Readers!
Author Chris Tougas recently talked to chickaDEE about the writing process. Chris wrote the fiction story “Gotta Fly” in the October buggy issue of chickaDEE. His story was so funny, as were the characters. Here’s what Chris had to say about it:
Q: Is it hard to write a funny story?
A: I like humourous writing because humour usually has a punch line or pay-off. I usually find an idea that excites me and then think of how to wrap the story up in a rewarding way. After that, it’s a matter of writing the meat of the story – the middle. If I have a strong idea and a good ending, the writing usually happens quite easily.
Q: What do you need to know before writing and illustrating a story?
A: I usually spend a day or two researching the subject matter of my stories before I start a project. In the case of “Gotta Fly”, I did a lot of of reading about both spiders and flies and found out all sorts of interesting things. But when it came time to write the story, I decided to leave some those fun things out in favour of just writing a fun story. It became less about the spiders and flies and more about two characters who have very different approaches to life.
Those are some great writing tips! Thanks Chris!
Until next time,
Natalia
Editor of chickaDEE