Q – What would you like to tell your readers?
A – When someone tells you that you can’t do something, they are really saying that they can’t do it.
Your abilities are different.
Look within yourself. You will probably have to shove doubts and ‘learned truths’ out of the way, but look deep within to find your essence. Then, as you cradle this wonderful jewel in your hands, see how each facet shows several talents and know that you can do many things.
Believe in yourself and follow your dreams.
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Q – What is your best advice for aspiring authors?:
A – There’s something special about a fictional story. This may be due to the fact that they are rooted in emotion. Regardless, we often view our stories as protectively as we do our children. Thus, I see the transition from writer to author begin at the point where the writer stops shielding ‘the baby’ and begins looking at the story as a product.
For me, this is a three-stage process. I write the first draft of my babies for myself and let the emotion flow.
The second stage is where I put emotion aside and rewrite for the reader. In my case, this means I cut out quite a bit of extraneous information that would bog down the story. I’ve been known to cut entire scenes and chapters. If I still viewed the story as my baby, I don’t think I could do this, as it would be too much like lopping off an arm.
The third draft eliminates typos and redundancies.
I repeat steps 2 and 3 as necessary.
Actually C. J. Cherryh said it better, “It is perfectly okay to write garbage–as long as you edit brilliantly.”
