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NPR's Novel Ideas -- your writerly answers
Just heard a bit on the radio about the National Book Award winners on the ride to work, and when I got online I had to check out the site. They're featuring authors talking about the writing process, so of course I had to read more.
Actually, I learned they've been doing a series called Novel Ideas as a sort of response to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Check out the quick little articles by the authors. Always interesting to learn how other authors work.
So, of course, I wondered what my answers would be for the three questions they asked for the article:
How I Write
Writer's Block Remedies
A Favorite Sentence
Since this is my journal, I figured I need to answer these questions as I gaze at my navel.
So here goes:
How I Write:
I need a schedule and a goal. I try to get up early and write from 4:30-6:30 a.m., before the real world sets in and I can't focus on fiction. I tend to work on one thing at a time; trying to juggle a couple stories or more than one novel at a time makes me surly and forgetful -- I lose the voice and the enthusiasm I had for the project. When things are slogging, it's tempting to want to quit, but the highs that come when the words are flowing and the characters are whispering in my ear all day -- totally worth it.
Writer's Block Remedies:
Exercise, reading, desperation. Grumbling on my journal. Reminding myself that I probably just need a break, or I just need to get back to work. And sometimes, you just need to have a drink...
A Favorite Sentence:
(This one's tricky, because I don't remember my most favorite sentence ever, though I do like "We killed the Buddha for the first time in Berlin." I think my favorite sentences are usually in what I'm currently working on) "I opened my eyes and drew in my first breath in ages when we stopped, at last, under the flickering gray light that illuminated the torn and chewed-up edge of what I knew had to be the last broken bridge of the Undercity."
Now... YOUR turn, fellow writers. Answer those three questions, either in the comments here or in your own blog. Looking forward to reading 'em...
Later!
Actually, I learned they've been doing a series called Novel Ideas as a sort of response to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Check out the quick little articles by the authors. Always interesting to learn how other authors work.
So, of course, I wondered what my answers would be for the three questions they asked for the article:
How I Write
Writer's Block Remedies
A Favorite Sentence
Since this is my journal, I figured I need to answer these questions as I gaze at my navel.
So here goes:
How I Write:
I need a schedule and a goal. I try to get up early and write from 4:30-6:30 a.m., before the real world sets in and I can't focus on fiction. I tend to work on one thing at a time; trying to juggle a couple stories or more than one novel at a time makes me surly and forgetful -- I lose the voice and the enthusiasm I had for the project. When things are slogging, it's tempting to want to quit, but the highs that come when the words are flowing and the characters are whispering in my ear all day -- totally worth it.
Writer's Block Remedies:
Exercise, reading, desperation. Grumbling on my journal. Reminding myself that I probably just need a break, or I just need to get back to work. And sometimes, you just need to have a drink...
A Favorite Sentence:
(This one's tricky, because I don't remember my most favorite sentence ever, though I do like "We killed the Buddha for the first time in Berlin." I think my favorite sentences are usually in what I'm currently working on) "I opened my eyes and drew in my first breath in ages when we stopped, at last, under the flickering gray light that illuminated the torn and chewed-up edge of what I knew had to be the last broken bridge of the Undercity."
Now... YOUR turn, fellow writers. Answer those three questions, either in the comments here or in your own blog. Looking forward to reading 'em...
Later!
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