Meet the Writer: HackerNoon's Christopher Grant, Storyteller-at-large

If you’re seeing this interview draft, it means you’ve recently published on HackerNoon a story that the community found interesting and/or valuable. For this reason, we would like to help the community get to know you better as well as find out some writing tips from you.

While this template is automatic, our interest in the answers below is genuine and our human editors (and some cyborg wannabes) will review it before publishing.

So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests.

I am Christopher Grant. I am an author, screenwriter, and itinerant storyteller who took a degree in English and then walked away from writing for nearly two decades because ‘just writing’ will never make a writer of anyone, me included.

To succeed as a writer, one must first be a storyteller, otherwise, there is little point in exercising literacy.

I am curious by nature and always learning, but the single consistent passion of my life has been motorcycles other than Harley-Davidsons. I am such a dedicated fan of Ducatis that I have owned four of them, but I have also owned Nortons, BSAs, and one or two Japanese marques. One day I will scamper down the open tail ramp of a Hercules aircraft at 10,000 feet …

Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about?

It was the first installment of twenty-one in a fictional series about a boy and an asteroid titled, ‘The Last 3 Days.’ Nick is three days from turning eighteen when the consequences of a simple choice snowball and strand him far from home without his phone, wallet, or any idea where he is.

To make things worse, an intentionally mislabeled planet-killing asteroid will arrive on the following Monday morning. Will Nick make it home before the asteroid arrives?

Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about?

I write fiction, though I have recently earned some attention for my articles on storytelling posted on medium.com.

Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?)

I prefer to write at night, a holdover from when my children were young because there are fewer distractions. I always juggle several projects at a time as it keeps my imagination limber and prevents boredom and reduces the risk of writer’s block.

Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing?

Getting paid.

What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career?

I have a television drama series in development with a national Canadian broadcaster and a streaming service which, with luck, will enter production late this year.

Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice?

Television.

Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it?

Cooking. I am a scratch cook, with the burn scars to prove it.

What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next?

More fiction and articles on the risks of replacing human creativity with AI counterfeit.

What’s your opinion on HackerNoon as a platform for writers?

To be honest, I’m too new to have an informed opinion, but so far, I like what I see.

Thanks for taking time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words?

Too many aspiring writers think that a regular writing regimen will bring success when nothing is further from the truth. Purpose is the key--if you don’t know what you need to say and why, you’re wasting your time.

Photo by Nong V on Unsplash