Zachary Hagen is a Minnesota-based fantasy author and editor. He lives there with his wife, Claudia, and their dog, Flynn. When he isn’t busy writing his next book or working with an editing client, you can often find him walking around his neighborhood or hiking.
From a young age he was enthralled with the world of story. From the stories his parents read to him from his blue bedtime story books (if you know, you know) to the first two series that he read, The Chronicles of Narnia and A Series of Unfortunate Events, Zachary’s tastes continued to develop throughout his years of reading. The influences for his first series, The Eternal Chronicles, include Christopher Paolini, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and others.
Q: What grade(s) do you teach? How did you get into teaching?
A: Currently, I teach a 6th, 7th, and 8th multigrade classroom in a small, private Christian school. I’ve wanted or had notions of being a teacher for as long as I can remember, but I did have other ideas at different times in my life. Though, frankly, I could write an entire book about my relationship to the profession of teaching and the field of education, so I’ll just leave it at this: After going to the first day of my first real school year, I came home and desperately wanted to repeat everything for my little brother and to teach him everything I learned, and the passion continued from there.
Q: What effect has teaching had on your story writing, if any?
A: I’m acutely aware that my students often seek out my social media and have asked if they can read my books, so that does make me put a self-imposed limit on the content of my books. I want to make sure its age-appropriate for my students because they have at least a passing interest in my work.
Q: How difficult do you find it to complete a novel?
A: Frankly, it depends on life-circumstances quite a bit. The actual process is rather simple if it’s broken down into steps, but other things affect that. My teaching schedule varies. I’m currently in school studying to complete my EdD, and I have a baby on the way. The actual writing is easy for me most of the time, but it’s everything else that makes it hard.
Q: What are the steps you follow to do so?
A: I begin with identifying the basic concepts, themes, and conflict of the story. Then, I decide on a three or five-act structure. After that, I put in the main beats of the story and fill in intermediary steps on an outline. Then, I’ll write a brief summary of each chapter. Then, the writing actually begins, and I can explode the moments I’ve identified through my outline process.
Q: What is your writing day like? Computer or hand notes? Set writing times and places?
A: I love this question. It assumes so much better of me than is reality. If I get into a groove, I’ll establish a daily writing routine, but often, my ADHD and job get in the way.
When I’m being a good writer, I’ll usually write in the evenings at my dining room table on my computer and do 20 minute writing sprints until I have completed from 1500 to 3000 words.
Q: After Eternity’s Well, at what point did you know that you would continue the series?
A: While I was writing Eternity’s Well, actually. I always intended to write a multi-book arc.
Q: What marketing did you do, and what was the most effective thing that you believe helped sales?
A: I have hired someone to do my marketing. It’s relatively small until I have the money to do more, and she does excellent social media stuff and uses her connections to get the word out to real people about the books.
Q: What is the worst advice you have received as a writer?
A: To research the market. No one should base what they want to write off of what the market is looking for. Writing to your interests will work out better in the long run.
Q: What attracted you to fantasy versus other genres?
A: The world is more magical than scientific in my view. Deeper truths can be discovered when we break the established rules of reality with our art.
Q: If you could go back and change one thing from your youth to affect your present, what would it be?
A: My wife and I dated in high school and broke up before getting back together later in college. If I could go back with what I know now, I would have never broken up with her so that we could have had more years together.
Learn more at Zachary Hagan’s website zacharyhagenwrites.com
A video interview with Zachary Hagan
About the Author
