@ The Author's Desk

What works for one author won't always work for another.

The last writer's conference I attended, I remember the speaker addressing the audience's questions. Someone asked if writing was easy for him. His answer: yes. It always had been. He never had to struggle to come up with ideas. Even putting them on paper was almost magical because his brain and hand practically wrote the story for him.

I was overjoyed to hear this because I had spent my life listening to people say how difficult they thought writing was. How they could never imagine writing a book because it just seemed like too much time and too much work. It always made me feel uncomfortable answering questions about how I write. I always felt like I was somehow bragging. I then started feeling like there was something wrong with me for being this creative person.

Of course, I'm not that way anymore. I don't volunteer information about myself as a writer (even though I probably should) because people still give me blank stares. The stare is just a sign that books isn't something we're going to have in common and I change the subject. But if people ask, it's hard to get me to stop.

The point is, we all know it takes time and work to produce a quality book. I never feel like I'm struggling when I'm writing. I don't experience the same level of boredom I had when I used to work at a call center and had to do the same series of tasks for 6 and 8 hour shifts. And I definitely don't feel frustrated or stressed about having people yell at me the way they did when I worked insurance.

However, our presenter went on to describe meeting another writer who told him that he found writing difficult. That he wasn't able to work unless he shut himself up in a room devoid of noise. The man in his story had to treat writing like a 9 to 5 job. He set daily page and word limits for himself. He used outlines and stuck strictly to the ideas and points he had plotted out.

Personally, I just can't work like that. When I work on a novel, I need the flow of ideas to be organic. It has to come naturally to me. I work best when I have background noise. I listen to music or reruns of a favorite show on TV. I like Futurama or cartoons from the 90's like Recess, Pepper Ann and The Weekenders. This way I don't get distracted by new content because I've seen all these shows before.

What kind of music I listen to completely depends on the scene. If I'm writing a love scene, then slow R&B style is what I need. If I'm writing a fight scene or a chase scene, then I need fast paced pop or rock music. If the scene is emotional, then Country is where I turn.

Every author has their style. Mine came naturally to me as breathing air. For other people, they have to take their time and try different things to see what works for them. Take your time. There is no rush. With every word you write, you'll get one step closer to that perfect form.

Writer's Block

For the first time in a long time, I got to talk to another writer. I didn't have to drive hundreds of miles, book a flight or pay a fee to attend a writer's conference. All I had to do was walk across the street.

It turns out my neighbor is an author. She aspsires to finish her first novel and publish it. The first question she asked...'What do you do about writer's block?'

Now this is a question writers get all the time. Different things work for different people. For me, the answer is probably the one thing no one wants to hear. You have to walk away from the project you're working on for a little while. It sounds crazy, but I have learned that distancing yourself from a troublesome project is often the only way to have that eureka moment you're waiting for.

I'm not saying that you have to leave the project for a year or 10, but a few weeks to a few months can work wonders. Instead of trying to force yourself to find the words that will move you from that one tough line to the end of the text, just take a break. A hiatus comes with several options.

One: You can push that book or story that's giving you trouble aside and work on a new one. I love this option and this is usually my method of choice. My mind is always overflowing with ideas clamoring for attention and it doesn't hurt to dive into the imagination and entertain myself with something new.

Two: Entertain yourself with someone else's brainchild. This means watching a movie, reading a book or listening to music. Sometimes, you need to see others work to know what you do and don't want in yours. Maybe there is a word or phrase you hear or an image you see that gives you that spark of genius.

Three: Go on an actual vacation. If you can afford it and even if you can't, do something that has nothing to do with writing. You can go to the park, go hiking, or go to the beach. You can even go shopping. And just because you're shopping doesn't mean you have to buy a truck load of things you don't need. A simple trip to the grocery store can get you focusing on something other than that character you can't flesh out or that chapter you can't finish.

The point I'm trying to make is that there is no shame in saying 'I don't know what I'm doing right now'. You're not giving up. You're taking a break. Writing is hard work and even authors needs vacation time.

Write What You Know

This was something I heard in a movie once. I think the movie was 'Harriet the Spy'. In the movie, the girl wants to be a writer, so she people watches and writes what she sees in her journal. It's been a long time since I've seen this movie, but I think the journal assignment was given to her by her therapist and she really takes it to heart. She ends up going a tad overboard by following people too closely. This ultimately gets her into trouble, as is the case with the protagonist of children's movies.

The point I'm trying to make here is when writing standard fiction, ie. non fantasy, drawing from our own experiences is the first thing we do. Often, we draw from things we have seen or heard first hand. Then we pull from movies, television shows and books that we've read.

But, what I like to do is try new things. I find that it is easier to write about something if I have actually done it myself. Okay, so that doesn't mean that I plan to jump out of an airplane to better describe the rush of skydiving. And I'm not suggesting you should either (unless you enjoy taking risks) But I have attended Catholic Mass, learned to swim, made a souffle without an electric mixer, and tasted various types of wine and tea.

I love to travel. I go to different cities and take as many pictures as I can. I love to eat out and try different foods. I'm also learning to play the cello and the guitar. One of my many goals involves learning different languages and their cultures simultaneously. I don't do these things to expand my knowledge as a writer, but I like to think they're helpful.

What Inspires You

Sometimes, modern technology helps you recall things you forgot. While searching Netflix for something to fill the silence in my house, I came across the old show 'Murder She Wrote', starring Angela Lansbury. I loved this show as a child and I still do.

There were few shows that my mother would allow us to stay up late for. One of which was 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'. The other was 'Murder She Wrote.' There were also the few times that there would be a made for TV mini-series, but usually, bed time was non-negotiable.

Getting to stay up for an extra hour was awesome. I got to lay across the foot of my parent's bed and watch a woman solve crimes. Now, one of the things that made this show cool was that a woman was getting all the glory for using her brain. The other was that she wasn't a cop or a private detective. She was a mystery writer.

If I had to give credit to any one thing that made me want to be a writer, it would have to be this show. I just recall thinking how cool it was that a woman could become a best selling author and I wanted to be just like Jessica Fletcher (Angela's character on the show). She was a famous author, but managed to stay humble, despite all the fame her success as an author had brought her.

At the time, I was always making up my own stories and telling them to my mother or my siblings because I just thought they were so interesting. And I will never forget that one night, as we watched Jessica solve another who dunnit, my mother put the idea into my head that one day, I could be like Jessica Fletcher. I had stars in my eyes as my mother explained that all the story books I read had all started inside someone's head, just like all the stories I made up.

From that moment on, the only thing I ever wanted to do was write.