Ask the Author: Larry Bone
Answered Questions (6)
Larry Bone
I finally realize that I don't need to know anything about my book before I start writing it or what happens next after I start writing it. Lee Child famously knows nothing about his Jack Reacher books before he starts writing them. He starts at zero. Writer's block can be a kind of finding yourself back at zero. I used to worry about that. The character, Jack Reacher, never knows what going to happen in the beginning at all. But he's a perfect example of how to deal with writer's block. If you keep your eyes or your mind open, possibilities can reveal themselves. Something can occur or happen and then based on that, something else happens (like cause and effect or random motion. After all, a block can be in some ways a subconscious assumption that for the moment you can't know what is going to or what can happen. But if you allow yourself to let go of that assumption, magic might or can start to happen. You will think of something, and then it leads to something else. The forward motion of what to write kicks in or can kick in, sometimes very unexpectedly and you are sprung free from your writer's block.
Larry Bone
Getting to write about what you care most about. Meeting other writers through social media who end up having to work through the same challenges you face. They are helpful and supportive, which, in turn, you are to them as well. It's also great to see an author you've never met attain success after their first novel. It inspires you to keep going no matter what obstacles you face.
Larry Bone
Write about the subject or thing you care about most. Find out all you can about it any way you can, articles, books, films, talking with experts or just interview or converse or interact with people who also deeply care about what you are your writing about. Don't hesitate to be totally yourself as much as you can. Read the work of writers who resonate with you and if they offer writing advice try out their tips and suggestions because these will probably work for you or lead you in the right direction. Calmly persist and persevere no matter what happens. And all the best to you!
Larry Bone
A follow up novel to "Myself Lost," called "Dacoit Didi," which loosely translates as "Gangster Sister." Her character appears in the very last scene of "Myself Lost."
Larry Bone
My mother told me that my grandfather wrote scripts for an old American radio police drama series broadcast on the CBS West Coast network called "Calling All Cars" The series was on the air from November 1933 until September 1939. When I met my grandfather, I felt some of his characteristics were passed on to me. I also admired Nora Ephron's writing and was indirectly inspired to write my first novel from the Hindi language film, "Salaam Namaste," which was based on the screenplay Nora Ephron wrote for the American film, "When Harry Met Sally."
Larry Bone
I had seen probably over 200-300 Hindi language films and wanted to travel to India based on what I'd seen of the sub-continent in those films. My plans to visit India fell through on one occasion right before the pandemic, so I decided to write about an imaginary trip to India where everything went wrong.
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