An Interview with Tim Powers
Interview conducted c. early 2010s
Introduction
Tim Powers is a World Fantasy Award–winning author best known for novels such as The Anubis Gates, On Stranger Tides, and Declare. His work is distinguished by its integration of rigorous historical research with supernatural speculation, constructing hidden mythic frameworks beneath real-world events.
This interview was conducted during a period when Powers was actively refining the research-intensive process that defines his fiction. The conversation focuses on idea discovery through nonfiction, deep outlining, historical constraint as creative fuel, and revision as a process of sharpening clarity and momentum.
Powers’s responses reveal a disciplined and methodical storyteller. His approach emphasizes preparation, internal consistency, and respect for narrative causality, treating fantasy not as escape but as a lens through which history becomes newly legible.
This interview is preserved as part of the Better Storytelling Archive, documenting the voices and working methods of contemporary genre creators.
TimPowers_Interview
The Interview
Life as a Writer
How did you get into writing?
I always wanted to be a writer, ever since I first read a book. After discovering Heinlein and Lovecraft in grade school, I knew I wanted specifically to write science fiction and fantasy. In 1967, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction ran an editorial explaining how to submit stories, so I began doing exactly that—and never stopped.
When did you first realize that you have what it takes to be a writer?
When an editor bought my first book. Before that, I was simply hopeful.
Premise
Where do you get your ideas from?
Mostly from nonfiction reading. I’ll be reading biography or history and notice an oddity that seems susceptible to a supernatural explanation. At that point, the reading shifts from entertainment to research.
How do you develop your ideas into a story?
I talk to myself into the keyboard, asking questions about what sort of plot the research implies and what hidden backstory could make the anomalies make sense. I often produce hundreds of pages of notes. From there, I select the elements that feel consistent, compatible, and vivid, and assemble a very detailed outline of the story’s events.
Genre
What kind of stories do you enjoy working with?
From childhood through early adulthood, I read almost exclusively science fiction and fantasy. Although I don’t read as much of it now, that early immersion permanently shaped my imagination. I have no interest in writing anything else.
What genres would you like to explore in the future?
I expect to stay with science fiction and fantasy. The genre is flexible enough to encompass espionage, westerns, humor, and procedural stories within its framework.
Structure
Do you work from an outline?
Completely. I like outlines detailed enough to include bits of dialogue and description. I often build a large calendar and write the events and conversations for each day directly into it.
Plot
How do you build your story?
I identify interesting historical events, places, or figures and invent a narrative thread that can weave as many of them together as possible. I generally structure stories in three acts, though the act breaks are not explicitly marked in the text.
Character
For you, what makes a great hero?
I usually determine the hero after the research is complete. The protagonist needs useful skills, relevant ignorance, and opportunities to learn—qualities that allow the story’s situations to unfold naturally.
If one of your characters were to describe you, what would they say?
They’d probably try to say something nice, just to keep me happy.
Setting
How much time do you spend researching the setting for your stories?
About a year. I read every relevant book I can find and follow side trails as long as they remain interesting. The research net is deliberately wide.
What settings would you like to explore in the future?
I don’t think far beyond the current project. Occasionally an idea surfaces—like a ghost story set around mountain climbing—but I don’t plan that far ahead.
Theme
Do you like to know the purpose of your story before you sit down to write it?
No. My stories exist solely to entertain. I don’t set out to comment on politics or social issues. If I notice overt statements emerging, I remove them.
Dialogue
Do you have any favorite lines from your stories?
None that come immediately to mind.
Writing Process
Do you have a routine?
I usually write from 8 p.m. to midnight at my desk. I don’t listen to music—if it’s good, it distracts me from writing.
How do you deal with writer’s block?
Writer’s block usually means thinking everything you write is bad. That’s normal. First drafts are supposed to be bad. Keep writing and fix it later. Claiming writer’s block often seems like a way to avoid writing while still claiming the title.
Story Development
How do you go about fixing a story?
I reread it and look for undeveloped hints, either removing them or expanding them. I revise dialogue to sound more natural, add descriptions that never made it onto the page, and cut repetition or drag.
How do you know when to stop?
When I can reread the manuscript without snagging on anything.
Words of Advice
What words of advice would you give to new writers?
Don’t write ironically or defensively. Take your characters and their problems seriously, give them resolutions that feel true to you, and let readers decide what they think.
Final Thoughts
What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?
Probably Declare.
What are you working on now?
I’m in the research phase, so it’s not yet clear—though it appears to be set in the twentieth or twenty-first century.
Closing
This interview captures Tim Powers’s view of storytelling as disciplined speculation built on historical constraint. His reflections emphasize preparation, internal logic, and respect for narrative causality, offering a clear example of how research and imagination can reinforce rather than oppose each other.
Presented here as part of the Better Storytelling Archive, this conversation preserves a perspective defined by rigor, patience, and an unwavering commitment to coherence.