Ask the Author: Kay Castaneda
Answered Questions (2)
Kay Castaneda
Being a writer is part of my identity. I used to hate when people would ask that tired, all-too-common question that I'm sure everyone's heard before. "What do YOU do?" with the emphasis on the word you. To my ears, it sounded as if they were speaking to me as an older adult would talk to a younger person. I always had an image of the Queen bending down to a child, patting her head and calling her Sweetie. The other way people would ask me about myself had the emphasis in the word do. "What do you DO?" As in how do you spend your time? What type of employment could you possibly be qualified for?
When I finally decided to become more serious with writing, that gave me a better view of myself. I don't just tell people that I write, I say I am a Writer. I worked at jobs I hated or drove me crazy with boredom. Now when people ask me that question, I tell them about myself, but I am taking my images of them as inspiration for my books. I keep that secret and won't tell them what I am doing, creating characters and story lines inside my writer's mind.
When I finally decided to become more serious with writing, that gave me a better view of myself. I don't just tell people that I write, I say I am a Writer. I worked at jobs I hated or drove me crazy with boredom. Now when people ask me that question, I tell them about myself, but I am taking my images of them as inspiration for my books. I keep that secret and won't tell them what I am doing, creating characters and story lines inside my writer's mind.
Kay Castaneda
I don't really have writer's block unless it would be about something I don't like. If I was assigned a job to write about sports or business, I would have to do research first. I am a procrastinator, and I'd put this type of writing off until the bitter end! Fiction and poetry are my favorite genres. They are much more fun. A problem with writing is not having a set schedule due to work and family life. My husband and I are self-employed and the hours are unpredictable. So I can't just say I will write during the hours of 10:00 am to noon each day for example. When I do sit down at my computer, I continue with everything I worked on the day before (or last week)! The process of editing, revising and proofreading leads me to other ideas to write about. I might think of using a character in one of my stories or poems to begin another piece of writing such as a new short story. I like to think of my characters as being able to go from a novel and then moving into a short story or even a piece of non-fiction. When I think of a new topic or character, even a location, to use in new writing, I make a reminder to myself. I use a pen and actually write in a lined-notebook. Then I write what's on my notes on a new Word document. Each document might be just a character's name or what they will look like. Any ideas I have are assigned a separate document which I then save in a folder. I have folders named Places, People, Locations or anything that needs a separate folder. Some folders are named Novel Ideas or Story Ideas. I put bits and pieces of things I find that I don't exactly know what to do with in a folder called Research. So what I really need is better time management and organizational skills even though I already do okay.
I wrote something in response to an article on Twitter that another author sent me. It's about WIP or Works in Progress. Too bad Twitter only lets you use a few characters! I hate that! This one is really short.
Should I say Goodbye to my WIP? Yes, no? I don't have writer's block. I love my premise. I have faith in it. I know I'll beg it to return if I let it go. I want to finish no matter how long it takes. I'm resting, waiting for that nudge (shove), slap, anything. Make me sit my butt in my chair. Someone push me!🌻Thanks Anne
http://annerallen.com/2018/04/saying-...
I wrote something in response to an article on Twitter that another author sent me. It's about WIP or Works in Progress. Too bad Twitter only lets you use a few characters! I hate that! This one is really short.
Should I say Goodbye to my WIP? Yes, no? I don't have writer's block. I love my premise. I have faith in it. I know I'll beg it to return if I let it go. I want to finish no matter how long it takes. I'm resting, waiting for that nudge (shove), slap, anything. Make me sit my butt in my chair. Someone push me!🌻Thanks Anne
http://annerallen.com/2018/04/saying-...
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