The Poetic Life: Sharing the Muse is part 2 of my interview with successful local poet, Sandra Gordon. In the interview are hints and tips which should help all writers and the importance of editing and reading are just two of the topics discussed.
One thing I have loved about all my Chandler's Ford Today interviews has been the way my interviewees have shared openly and given a glimpse into their writing life. I have always loved this kind of thing as no two writers work in exactly the same way and I find this a fascinating topic. It also means I inevitably learn a thing or two that will help me in my own writing!
All writers have different inspirations. One, of course, is the inspiration to read widely (in my case encouraged by my late mother and this is something I will always appreciate her for as it is a huge gift to bestow on someone. All that entertainment, all those adventure, fantasy, crime stories etc to read and enjoy but which I would have missed out on had I not been given the love of reading in the first place).
Another inspiration is a writer's own favourite authors, which often kickstarts the desire to write. (Not to better said authors but to genuinely see what you can accomplish and I've discovered a wish to give something back to the story "pool" in a kind of thanks for all the stories I've loved). And the odd line, a news story, a scrap of overheard conversation are all well known inspirations for new short stories, poems, plays and novels.
So who are your characters (writers or not) inspired by? My fairy godmother, Hanastrew, is inspired and encouraged by Eileen. Is the inspiration a good thing or not? Does that inspiration encourage your character on to greater things than would otherwise have happend without that spark? Can the inspiration become unhealthy (Stephen King's Misery is the classic tale on this)?
What leads your characters to keep going no matter what the difficulties you throw at them? What inspiration helps them here?
And who are you, as writer, inspired by and why? What makes you keep going when all that seems to come in are rejections? I've found it helpful to remind myself I am "in" writing for the long haul and that rejections are part and parcel of a writer's development. So what helps you here?
One thing I have loved about all my Chandler's Ford Today interviews has been the way my interviewees have shared openly and given a glimpse into their writing life. I have always loved this kind of thing as no two writers work in exactly the same way and I find this a fascinating topic. It also means I inevitably learn a thing or two that will help me in my own writing!
All writers have different inspirations. One, of course, is the inspiration to read widely (in my case encouraged by my late mother and this is something I will always appreciate her for as it is a huge gift to bestow on someone. All that entertainment, all those adventure, fantasy, crime stories etc to read and enjoy but which I would have missed out on had I not been given the love of reading in the first place).
Another inspiration is a writer's own favourite authors, which often kickstarts the desire to write. (Not to better said authors but to genuinely see what you can accomplish and I've discovered a wish to give something back to the story "pool" in a kind of thanks for all the stories I've loved). And the odd line, a news story, a scrap of overheard conversation are all well known inspirations for new short stories, poems, plays and novels.
So who are your characters (writers or not) inspired by? My fairy godmother, Hanastrew, is inspired and encouraged by Eileen. Is the inspiration a good thing or not? Does that inspiration encourage your character on to greater things than would otherwise have happend without that spark? Can the inspiration become unhealthy (Stephen King's Misery is the classic tale on this)?
What leads your characters to keep going no matter what the difficulties you throw at them? What inspiration helps them here?
And who are you, as writer, inspired by and why? What makes you keep going when all that seems to come in are rejections? I've found it helpful to remind myself I am "in" writing for the long haul and that rejections are part and parcel of a writer's development. So what helps you here?
RSS Feed
