Ask the Author: Max C. Payne
Answered Questions (1)
Max C. Payne
Hmm... Not easily, for one thing :)
I deal with writer's block, by starting a new book (though I have way too many of those already) or, when it's one specific book giving me trouble and I really want to work on it, I open a separate document, list down the characters, and create their character profiles, by writing a short description on them, then writing down a few quotes from each character, and try to write scenes where these characters interact.
If I'm lucky, this leads to more scenes in the book. If I'm stuck at a specific point, but I know what happens after, then I write down what I like to call 'placeholder text.' This is just writing whatever comes to mind, even if it doesn't make sense, because I'll have to go through the whole book and rewrite it anyway, to fit my needs. And, if I can get ahead, it can give me more ideas and I would go back and write that. The point, is to keep on writing to the end, no matter what, because I usually do a lot of rewrites on scenes after going through the books, over and over.
In any case, I tend to write several books at once, because I won't start and finish any one book in one sitting. I write where I can, and sometimes, I end up finishing several books one after the other, even when they were all started at different times (usually ranging weeks to months.)
I deal with writer's block, by starting a new book (though I have way too many of those already) or, when it's one specific book giving me trouble and I really want to work on it, I open a separate document, list down the characters, and create their character profiles, by writing a short description on them, then writing down a few quotes from each character, and try to write scenes where these characters interact.
If I'm lucky, this leads to more scenes in the book. If I'm stuck at a specific point, but I know what happens after, then I write down what I like to call 'placeholder text.' This is just writing whatever comes to mind, even if it doesn't make sense, because I'll have to go through the whole book and rewrite it anyway, to fit my needs. And, if I can get ahead, it can give me more ideas and I would go back and write that. The point, is to keep on writing to the end, no matter what, because I usually do a lot of rewrites on scenes after going through the books, over and over.
In any case, I tend to write several books at once, because I won't start and finish any one book in one sitting. I write where I can, and sometimes, I end up finishing several books one after the other, even when they were all started at different times (usually ranging weeks to months.)
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