One of the largest reasons for Andy Weir’s fascination with science fiction and science as a whole is the interest his father had for science and science fiction. His father owned a large collection of science fiction books, which were the first spark of interest for Andy Weir. Major works that he read include the works of Isaac Asimov, Arthur Clarke, and Robert Heinlein. While waiting for his security clearance at Sandia, Weir taught himself the programming language “C” by-the-book, and after realizing his skills by working on a project with others at Sandia, he discovered the joy in programming. On the literature side, the likeliest reason for Weir’s interest in writing is his mother’s own interest in literature, and although Weir’s mother was an electrical engineer, Weir points out that the occupation was based on income rather than interest. During his teen years and on, Weir wrote many stories and uploaded them to the internet. One of the benefits of having a programming background when writing is the ability to rework plots more efficiently. Weir benefitted greatly in this way, but additionally by using his programming skills, he was able to accurately calculate the physics of events that happened in his stories, making his stories much more real. Another interesting aspect of having a programming background is the tendency to meet deadlines on time. In the programming and engineering world deadlines are set in stone; however, the same cannot be said for the literature world. When writing Weir tends to meet all deadlines because of this strict rule from his past. While Weir could write in other genres, he loves science and as a result mainly writes science fiction. His love for science makes knowledge in the areas he writes about easy and accessible. When researching for books Weir admits that he can get lost in the fun of researching rather than focusing on writing. Also, Weir’s researching plays a very important role in the direction of the books he writes. One realization can lead to another, resulting in a chain reaction of changes throughout the book. When writing The Martian, Weir had to learn about botany and other crucial subjects, and when researching, he realized that the numbers would not line up, which resulted in a large divergence from the preexisting plot line.

Andy Weir is known to be curious, energetic, imaginative and much more. When changing careers from programming to writing, Weir’s work environment also changed from populated to isolated. For Weir, a sociable person, the change to a less populated setting was undesirable. Weir’s coworkers at Sandia recount him as an imaginative and creative person, which helps explain a lot of his interest and activity in literature. Additionally, Weir’s strong sense of imagination helps him solve problems by looking at situations differently, an interesting lesson that he instill in his coworkers, and something that helps him to write more effectively. Much of Weir’s personality shines through the character Mark Watney from The Martian. Weir himself stated that he gave the more desirable traits that he possessed to Mark Watney. Mark Watney, and Weir by proxy, is intelligent, persevering, optimistic, funny, and always looking for a way to lighten the mood. Though, as Weir has pointed out, there are some traits that he has that have not been given to Mark Watney. Rather, Mark Watney is the ideal version of Andy Weir in his mind.