Ask the Author: Caroline Bock
Answered Questions (8)
Caroline Bock
I sometimes feel my entire life is a mystery. My father called me 'The Instigator' and I always thought I knew why: I started things. I got everyone (meaning my younger siblings) into trouble. Why did he trust me, when he didn't trust anyone, especially women? Why did he stay to raise a family by himself, after my mother was struck down by an aneurysm, why didn't he run? Why did he put any faith in the little girl he called 'The Instigator'? Obviously, a mystery of sorts. My father is dead now, and I am left to grapple with this all. I don't know if this is answer you wanted, but it is the question so connected to why write? Why write when one could do so many other, easier things (am procrastinating now from my 'real' writing). I could go on... but enough. Back to the actual writing, you Instigator.
Caroline Bock
I love the unnamed "thee" in Shakespeare's sonnets-- the eternal other, the lover, the dear one, that we are always yearning for in life, that we shall always remember--and that, ultimately, saves us. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" Or, "...thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings/That then I scorn to change my place with kings."
Caroline Bock
Read. Read. Read. I love words. I write down words I discover all the time. I just fill up a notebook with words and then the words happen to me.
Caroline Bock
Hearing the voices in my head come alive on the page.
You will notice I often write in multiple points of view. That means often several voices in my head clamoring to be written.
You will notice I often write in multiple points of view. That means often several voices in my head clamoring to be written.
Caroline Bock
My top ten for aspiring writers:
1) Write on a regular schedule.
2) Finish a first draft of what you write.
3) Re-write.
4) Share it with someone who reads a lot.
5) Re-write and look at plot closely
6) Re-write and look at characters closely
7) Re-read entire work, try reading parts out loud. Cats are very good listeners.
8) Finish. Say it's done. It's good enough. So many really good writers I've met in workshops, in the MFA program, never trust in themselves to say a work is finished.
9) Send it out into the world.
10) Breathe. Take a breath. Read, a lot. Take notes on what you read. Is there a word you discover? Is there a name? (I'm becoming a big collector of names). Be generous to other writers. Write a review. Try a different form, for example, write flash fiction if you write novels. Don't wait too long to return to #1
1) Write on a regular schedule.
2) Finish a first draft of what you write.
3) Re-write.
4) Share it with someone who reads a lot.
5) Re-write and look at plot closely
6) Re-write and look at characters closely
7) Re-read entire work, try reading parts out loud. Cats are very good listeners.
8) Finish. Say it's done. It's good enough. So many really good writers I've met in workshops, in the MFA program, never trust in themselves to say a work is finished.
9) Send it out into the world.
10) Breathe. Take a breath. Read, a lot. Take notes on what you read. Is there a word you discover? Is there a name? (I'm becoming a big collector of names). Be generous to other writers. Write a review. Try a different form, for example, write flash fiction if you write novels. Don't wait too long to return to #1
Caroline Bock
What will hopefully be my debut adult novel——this is after two YA novels– Before My Eyes (SMP, 2014) and LIE (SMP, 2011). Though, I have to admit that my first novel, LIE, was not written intentionally as a young adult novel.
Caroline Bock
I had been mulling over that moment in so many of our lives when everything seems to change abruptly, shockingly, and we think we have no control, or do we? That was the key thought that started Before My Eyes. All else that followed in the novel, and there's a lot that follows as you go deep into these characters—Claire, Barkley, and Max—sprung from that initial question.
I had been mulling over that moment in so many of our lives when everything seems to change abruptly, shockingly, and we think we have no control, or do we? That was the key thought that started Before My Eyes. All else that followed in the novel, and there's a lot that follows as you go deep into these characters—Claire, Barkley, and Max—sprung from that initial question.
Caroline Bock
I had been mulling over that moment in so many of our lives when everything seems to change abruptly, shockingly, and we think we have no control, or do we? That was the key thought that started Before My Eyes. All else that followed in the novel, and there's a lot that follows as you go deep into these characters—Claire, Barkley, and Max—sprung from that initial question.
I had been mulling over that moment in so many of our lives when everything seems to change abruptly, shockingly, and we think we have no control, or do we? That was the key thought that started Before My Eyes. All else that followed in the novel, and there's a lot that follows as you go deep into these characters—Claire, Barkley, and Max—sprung from that initial question.
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