Ask the Author: Lara Ann Dominick
Answered Questions (8)
Lara Ann Dominick
I stop writing. I go for a run, or play the piano, or read, or listen to music- anything to keep my hands off of my work. If I try to write through writer's block, everything turns out flat and I end up rewriting (at best) or deleting pages of work (at worst). Sometimes I go a few days without opening a manuscript to work on it because I have to give myself a chance to find a new "what if" or to figure out how a character who is particularly different from me in thought and action would react to a situation, and that just takes time. It also helps if you have someone you can rubber ducky off of. I will often corner my husband and make him listen while I talk through a scene to figure out where they need to go next, and he's amazing at knowing me and my characters enough to tell me when they would or wouldn't behave how I want them to. He's also great for coming up with "what ifs" for me.
So if you're stuck, take a break. Do something else. And if you're lucky enough to have someone who you trust to bounce ideas off of, use them.
So if you're stuck, take a break. Do something else. And if you're lucky enough to have someone who you trust to bounce ideas off of, use them.
Lara Ann Dominick
It's the most cathartic thing for me. When I feel something strongly, I can channel that into words, giving my characters a scenario that causes in them a similar feeling, and allow them to work through the problem. When they do, my mind gets a little quieter because I've allowed the emotion to have its moment.
Lara Ann Dominick
Read. If you want to write, you have to read. Find what you love and what you hate in other books, in everything from plot, to writing style, to narrative style, and use that to find your voice. Write the book you would want to read.
Lara Ann Dominick
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Lara Ann Dominick
I spent years training as an actress, where you are taught that "acting is telling the truth in imaginary circumstances" -Meisner. For me, writing is the same thing. Getting inspired is as simple (not easy, but simple) as imagining a "what if" scenario, then putting myself into the characters' mind to figure out what they would do and say. In that way, all of my characters have a bit of me in them, but only in the way that I imagine what that character would do. I have often called it a day when a character stops acting like themselves in my work, because I'm not able to get into their mind and discern their motives. But it's why I like the "what ifs?" They give me somewhere to start from, and then it's just a matter of making the characters "real".
Lara Ann Dominick
The basic concept came to me years ago and I never did anything with it other than write a few disjointed chapters (none of which made it into the final version in their original form, if at all). Recently, with the overwhelming emotional toll of the Covid-19 pandemic, I began to think about the idea I'd cast aside, and the things that I felt still worked, things that didn't work, and the things I wanted to convey. I wanted to have a character study of two completely opposite women, but neither of whom would be a caricature of a female character or a Mary Sue. I wanted them to be interesting, neither all good or all evil, but very real women, strong, but who make mistakes, big and small. I wanted to convey the struggles that even strong women deal with in a society that still makes it HARD to be a woman. I wanted to touch on the anxiety, depression, isolation, and desperation that I felt while in quarantine, but in a way that is relatable to people struggling with mental illness even in day to day life. I wanted a romance to be a part of the story, but not to be the point. I wanted the women to run the show, even if they all envisioned and worked toward a different ending.
Lara Ann Dominick
I looked in the mirror before I went out and was feeling confident and cute, so I winked at my reflection. She didn't wink back...
Lara Ann Dominick
I'd say the world of Harry Potter, but with my luck I'd be a muggle and therefore unable to fully enjoy it (though I'm OBVIOUSLY a Gryffindor) so I'll say Middle Earth. There are so many different beautiful and enchanting places to visit. And even if I was just a Hobbit, at least the food and ale would be on point!
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