Ask the Author: David Chandler
Answered Questions (6)
David Chandler
I'm terrible - I hide from my keyboard for weeks at a time. I have 20,000 words of a comedy diary.
My (semi-professional) writing colleague insists that it is good, is shocked that the text is only a draft and says only good things about it.
However, I just cannot find the ability to take a further step with it. So I ignore it, look away from it, pretend it's not there, whistle loudly as I walk by the files and try to look busy, (just in case they are watching me).
I have created some people that need to have their story told and I feel guilty for ignoring them.
I am not a good advert for dealing with WB.
My (semi-professional) writing colleague insists that it is good, is shocked that the text is only a draft and says only good things about it.
However, I just cannot find the ability to take a further step with it. So I ignore it, look away from it, pretend it's not there, whistle loudly as I walk by the files and try to look busy, (just in case they are watching me).
I have created some people that need to have their story told and I feel guilty for ignoring them.
I am not a good advert for dealing with WB.
David Chandler
Writing for me is still an aspiration. I don't yet make enough from my work(s) to consider myself 'professional'. However, the best thing for me (apart from fighting with my writing demon), is that moment when phrases just click, or insignificant sentences that were written months ago suddenly become the answer to a vital part of your plot. You know you're on to something when that happens... At least with that part of the book...
David Chandler
Three things are important:
Just write. It can be the worst drivel known to man (much of mine is). But, over time, you will hopefully find a nugget of gold that you can polish. You can learn from every failed attempt, and grow from every disastrous abandonment.
Don't be afraid to 'steal' ideas from your previous unpublished stuff. If you're writing a new idea and an old concept fits well, take it and use it! You know that your old work will never see the light of day, and you are 'stealing' from yourself. It's allowed.
Be honest! Just because you spent three years of your life on something does not make it a masterpiece. As authors, we are too close, too blind to see things for real.
If 'nobody gets it', there is probably a reason.
If your MMS is rejected by a dozen agents, there is probably a reason.
If your mum likes it, there's probably a reason.
Just write. It can be the worst drivel known to man (much of mine is). But, over time, you will hopefully find a nugget of gold that you can polish. You can learn from every failed attempt, and grow from every disastrous abandonment.
Don't be afraid to 'steal' ideas from your previous unpublished stuff. If you're writing a new idea and an old concept fits well, take it and use it! You know that your old work will never see the light of day, and you are 'stealing' from yourself. It's allowed.
Be honest! Just because you spent three years of your life on something does not make it a masterpiece. As authors, we are too close, too blind to see things for real.
If 'nobody gets it', there is probably a reason.
If your MMS is rejected by a dozen agents, there is probably a reason.
If your mum likes it, there's probably a reason.
David Chandler
I have two different projects:
The Postal-Bear Series - A teddy bear has lost his owner and his memory, and travels the world by post, looking for home. With the help of 'the Gnomes', and others, he finds himself having a range of different adventures.
du Bon A medieval knight who goes on secret missions for Queen Matilda.
These are written in poem form. Each one is made up of seven chapters of 30 verses each. It's a labour of AGGGH, erm, I mean love....
The Postal-Bear Series - A teddy bear has lost his owner and his memory, and travels the world by post, looking for home. With the help of 'the Gnomes', and others, he finds himself having a range of different adventures.
du Bon A medieval knight who goes on secret missions for Queen Matilda.
These are written in poem form. Each one is made up of seven chapters of 30 verses each. It's a labour of AGGGH, erm, I mean love....
David Chandler
I am not a natural writer. I dislike the process, but I have a horrible little demon inside me that forces me to do it.
I've always been creative (I studied as an actor, became a professional illusionist, yadda, yadda), and this is the most accessible outlet at this time in my life.
The aforementioned demon can wake me up in the middle of the night, or force me to sit at a desk for 32 hours straight and coax stuff out of my fingers. Whilst I fight the urges, it is those moments of pure bliss - when a chapter almost writes itself, or when some insignificant element earlier in the book suddenly has extra meaning later, without you having made that connection when you added it initially. Those moments make all the others worth it.
I've always been creative (I studied as an actor, became a professional illusionist, yadda, yadda), and this is the most accessible outlet at this time in my life.
The aforementioned demon can wake me up in the middle of the night, or force me to sit at a desk for 32 hours straight and coax stuff out of my fingers. Whilst I fight the urges, it is those moments of pure bliss - when a chapter almost writes itself, or when some insignificant element earlier in the book suddenly has extra meaning later, without you having made that connection when you added it initially. Those moments make all the others worth it.
David Chandler
I'm currently working on a series of stories about a bear that travels by the postal system. It started as a vague idea to have a physical teddy travel around the world - which actually happens (see www.postalbear.com).
It was soon after that that I realised that he could have 'extra' adventures worthy of a book (or books). Naturally, these would have to be better than just travelling around different countries, so the idea of a lost bear, looking to find his way home, was born.
It was soon after that that I realised that he could have 'extra' adventures worthy of a book (or books). Naturally, these would have to be better than just travelling around different countries, so the idea of a lost bear, looking to find his way home, was born.
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