Enjoy the Story: An Interview w/Author Matthew Brough, By Kell McKinney

Matt Brough is a lot of things. He’s a father, a husband, a pastor, and a sports fan. He’s also a podcaster and the author of the middle grade fantasy series featuring one of my favorite heroines, Del Ryder.

I met Matt a couple of years ago at a writing conference and thought the week before Christmas would be a perfect time to interview a pastor about his views on writing for middle grade readers. Because he wasn’t doing anything else, right?

I’m always fascinated with authors’ publishing stories––the journey that they took from spark to shelf. In my own career, I’ve written everything from news releases and presentations to picture books and how-to articles. So I was particularly curious about what inspired Matt––a pastor and author of sermons––to write a fantasy aimed at middle grade readers (ages 8-12).

“I knew I loved writing,” Matt said. “I’d tried my hand at several things before––historical fiction, science fiction, and I’d usually get three or four pages in before I abandoned it.

So how does a writer move from dabbling to dedication? “My daughter was five years old at the time, and I wanted to write something that she would like to read. I had the idea for this story, and I was really empowered by the idea that I could publish it myself. “

“I was empowered, and I was very motivated by my daughter. Plus, I was inspired by a podcast to try something that I would highly recommend any writer do. I set small daily goals and I wrote every day. Really small goals, like 250 words per day. When you do that you feel like you can achieve something every day.  And when you write every day, even just a couple hundred words, you’ll have a book in three or four months.

“When I started, even though I set a small goal, most days I ended up with 700 words.  And what happened then was that I really started to enjoy the story.”

Since kids are often the toughest readers (as in, if something about a story doesn’t make sense or ring true to them, they’ll put the book down), enjoying the story is a critical element. If the writer isn’t enjoying the story, it’s likely the reader isn’t going to be thrilled either.

Kell McKinney earned a B.A. in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and an M.S. in documentary studies from the University of North Texas. She’s a part-time copywriter, double-time mom and wife, and spends every free minute writing and/or hunting for her car keys. Connect with her on Twitter @Kell_McK or kellmckinney.com.