Ask the Author: Eva Dillon
Answered Questions (4)
Eva Dillon
Take a walk around the block.
Eva Dillon
For me, having as much time as I like to get a word, a sentence or a paragraph right. When I'm talking, I often grasp at words or sentence structure, but when writing, I love the luxury of time (and a good thesaurus) to communicate what I want to say eloquently and efficiently, but can't always do off the cuff.
Eva Dillon
For non-fiction writers (the only experience I have), draft an outline of all the facts of your story, in chronological order, along with sources. This becomes your guide, which, as you make your way through your story, you can tweak, add to and delete from as your story comes together. Your creative impulses and writing style FOLLOW a good organizational framework. Otherwise, you get bogged down organizationally, which squashes your ability to be creative. Organize first, be creative second.
Eva Dillon
When I discovered that my father (who worked for the CIA which we did not know growing up as children) handled the highest-ranking, longest-serving Soviet double agent during the Cold War, I decided to research and write about their extraordinary relationship and shared goal of avoiding nuclear war. It's also a double memoir, of both families growing up on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain.
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