BookView Review

Welcome to BookView Interview, a conversation series where BookView talks to authors.

Recently, we interviewed Phil Moore about his writing and his recently released novel, Terra Utopia, an original, engaging, and thoughtful dystopian tale. (Read the review here.)

You work in a lot of different mediums; do you find it challenging moving from one form to another? What are the differences?

It’s all storytelling. The main difference is in the way you approach it; which is generally, is it meant to be read, or performed? If it’s for performance, then the writing is only half the job – the other half is in the production – be it stage or screen. One has to adapt one’s process to make the best use of the medium. For example, this current book was first a novel, then a screenplay, then a TV series, and now it’s a novel again. With each version I would change how the story was approached, focussing on different things to make the most of the medium. The reason it’s a novel ultimately is that I hit upon a device in how to tell the story that just works best as a book. But then, if I’m adapting a novel for the stage, which I’ve done a couple of times, you have to change a lot of things so it will work as a visual and aural performance piece in about two hours. Whatever the medium requires.

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

I do a lot of research. I enjoy it. I’m not a physicist, but there is a lot of real physics in this book, and I want it to be as credible as possible. If I’m writing something with a historical setting I do the research. It gives you lots of ideas, lots of interesting obstacles you can include in your story. I’m constantly researching – YouTube Videos, books, Documentaries, online articles, whatever. The more you know the better. You never know when it might come in useful in a story.

What’s the most difficult thing about writing a novel?

Getting started. That’s from day one, or on any given day. Just sitting down and doing the work. Once you get started its okay. That’s another reason to do the research, it can give you something to start with.

Do you read your reviews? Do they please you or annoy you? Do you think you can learn a lot from reading criticism about your work?

Reviews and criticism are two different things. I don’t tend to read reviews. Either they validate the work, which is nice; or they didn’t get it, or they’re just vindictive. Bad reviews just annoy me, but I don’t take to heart. Constructive criticism is something else, but it needs to come from someone who knows what they’re talking about. And that generally means someone I know and trust.

Who and what ultimately inspired you to become a writer?

Nothing really inspired me. I’ve always been a writer, or composer. I grew up in a creative household and it was just natural. What else is there to be?

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

Depends how much time I can devote to it give other work that pays the bills, but generally a novel will take me one and half to two years. The last Musical – book, music and lyrics – took about 18 months. A screenplay might take three to six months. I do most of my writing over the summer break when I’m not teaching.

What’s more important: characters or plot?

Both. You can’t have a story without both. Now of course, different kinds of stories lean one way or the other – more character-driven, or more plot-driven. But they’re both equally important in my view. It just comes down to how much the character is reacting to outside forces, or instigating the change themselves and then dealing with the consequences. It’ a balance between the two.

Would you rather read a book or watch television?

Why not do both. I’ll watch a movie or series in the evening, then read a chapter of whatever book I’m reading at the time before I go to bed. But then I write for both, so you need to be up on what’s out there. Old and new.

Are you a feeler or a thinker?

That’s same as your character versus plot question. You can’t be a human being without both; and depending on the situation you rely more on feelings or intellect. But I guess, since I tend to write Sci-Fi and high concept stuff, I’m more of a thinker. But as a composer and musician one tends to lean more toward feelings. And there is always thought and intellect involved when crafting a song or a story, which is designed to evoke an emotional response from an audience or reader. Again, you find a balance.

What do you hope readers will take away from this story?

I guess – and this true of all my writing to some extent – I guess I’m just trying to broaden people’s view of the world. Whether that be about mortality, the nature of reality, relationships, culture. I tend to write stuff with a philosophical bent. This book, Terra Utopia, deals with a lot of those big questions, the nature of consciousness, dreams versus reality. But in case that scares anyone off, it’s still basically a ‘castaways in space’ thriller, with a bit of Socratic dialogue thrown in to break things up. However big your themes might be, you still have tell a good story.

What’s next for you?

I’m halfway through another book at the moment – a Time Travel comedy; and I’m working on a concept album of music based on this novel, which I’ll release under my band name, GuffNasm. After that I have the next books in this Terra Utopia series, as well as my Return of the Prophet series to write. Then I’ll probably be ready to write another musical or make another movie – I already have the script for that if I can raise the finance. We’ll see. Plenty of stuff on the drawing board.

***