Ask the Author: Michael-Patrick Harrington
Answered Questions (8)
Michael-Patrick Harrington
I would travel to Middle-Earth and shadow the Fellowship as they set out to destroy the One Ring.
Michael-Patrick Harrington
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
The Door by Magda Szabo
4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
The Door by Magda Szabo
Michael-Patrick Harrington
The Distant Sound of Boiling Tea, out soon, involves a female teacher having sex with a fifteen-year-old boy. That just came from the headlines. But the book is really about the boy's mother, Ruth.
I don't know where Ruth came from. I workshopped this book, and that helped, but I think that Ruth came from me asking myself: what's the worse response a parent could have in the situation? Okay, it was easy to envision trashy responses, but then getting in the psychology of her behavior lead me into more subtle areas, such as ambivalence.
She became a character that is hard to pin down, because every decision has to be forced from her. For the most part, she cannot decide for herself, and when she does, the narcissism that comes with the territory leads her into almost always making the wrong choice, which in turn makes her even more ambivalent next time. I found that idea fascinating.
Sometimes inspiration comes from the most obvious places, like newspaper headlines, but often it comes from creating a character in your head and then placing him or her into a situation - just to see what happens. We are storytellers, after all.
I don't know where Ruth came from. I workshopped this book, and that helped, but I think that Ruth came from me asking myself: what's the worse response a parent could have in the situation? Okay, it was easy to envision trashy responses, but then getting in the psychology of her behavior lead me into more subtle areas, such as ambivalence.
She became a character that is hard to pin down, because every decision has to be forced from her. For the most part, she cannot decide for herself, and when she does, the narcissism that comes with the territory leads her into almost always making the wrong choice, which in turn makes her even more ambivalent next time. I found that idea fascinating.
Sometimes inspiration comes from the most obvious places, like newspaper headlines, but often it comes from creating a character in your head and then placing him or her into a situation - just to see what happens. We are storytellers, after all.
Michael-Patrick Harrington
Writing every day makes sure that I am always inspired to write. I'm inspired because there are stories I need to tell - and, like everyone else, I have a limited amount of time in which to tell them!
Michael-Patrick Harrington
I am working on a novel, Young People's Unit. Right now, it's mostly research and sketching.
I'm also working on the fourth re-write/edit (draft) of another novel, The Innkeeper at the End of the World.
Soon I'll be putting the final polish on Everything's Ephemeral, a collection of novellas, stories, and scenes, that may come out late 2015 or early 2016.
Finally, I'm always jotting ideas down, and sometimes they start to become something. Some notes have come together and re-ignited my passion for a novel I'd started over a decade ago and abandoned, The Leaving. So that work is back in back in the lineup.
There's also a play I wrote that I'd like to get back to, The Suicide Collectors.
So I'll be busy for a while!
I'm also working on the fourth re-write/edit (draft) of another novel, The Innkeeper at the End of the World.
Soon I'll be putting the final polish on Everything's Ephemeral, a collection of novellas, stories, and scenes, that may come out late 2015 or early 2016.
Finally, I'm always jotting ideas down, and sometimes they start to become something. Some notes have come together and re-ignited my passion for a novel I'd started over a decade ago and abandoned, The Leaving. So that work is back in back in the lineup.
There's also a play I wrote that I'd like to get back to, The Suicide Collectors.
So I'll be busy for a while!
Michael-Patrick Harrington
Write every day. Try to write at the same time every day so it becomes routine. Start with finding an hour somewhere, then see if you can stretch it to two or three hours.
Three hours seems to be the right amount of time for me. If I didn't have to work, I'd chop the day up into 3 hours chunks., which is what i often do on the weekends.
Early morning is often touted as the best time because your mind is fresh (and most likely no one will call or e-mail you then). Other times might work as well. You may have to try different times to find one that is right for you.
Find someone you can trust to read your work, if you can. Make that reader your audience, so that you always know that at least you're writing for one person. Allow this reader to be as critical as she or he needs to be in responding to your work.
Three hours seems to be the right amount of time for me. If I didn't have to work, I'd chop the day up into 3 hours chunks., which is what i often do on the weekends.
Early morning is often touted as the best time because your mind is fresh (and most likely no one will call or e-mail you then). Other times might work as well. You may have to try different times to find one that is right for you.
Find someone you can trust to read your work, if you can. Make that reader your audience, so that you always know that at least you're writing for one person. Allow this reader to be as critical as she or he needs to be in responding to your work.
Michael-Patrick Harrington
For a fiction writer like myself, it's telling stories! I get to create something out of nothing and weave a story that eventually someone else will read.
Michael-Patrick Harrington
I actually have never experienced writer's block. I think it's because, long ago, I decided that waiting for inspiration wasn't the way the to go, so I "trained" myself to write for an hour every morning, then two hours, and now I write from 5:30 to 8:30 every single day. Last year, I only missed five days! In doing this, almost all aspects of writing became muscle memory. SOMETHING is always going to come out of my pen or keyboard. I can get stuck occasionally or write myself into a corner, but writer's block never plays into it. When I sit down, my job is to write and tell a story and not wait for inspiration. Inspiration will come from doing. If I get stuck on something, I just move to another project for a little bit to clear my head.
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