Ask the Author: Bob Simms
Answered Questions (2)
Bob Simms
Write. It seems obvious, but write. You can't be a writer unless you write. I've had people tell me that they wish they could publish a book, but haven't even written a page of it. It doesn't have to be good (no first draft ever is). It doesn't have to be a novel; it can be flash fiction, a description of your commute to work, whatever. You don't have to write eight hours a day (I would write on my commute to and from work). But write. Write as often as you can. Stuck on a plot point in your novel? Skip that chapter and write the next. Stuck for a subject? Search for writing prompts on the interweb. But write.
Write.
Write
Write.
Write
Bob Simms
It may seem a trite answer, but the answer is to write. If I can't think of anything I'll write a short story arund a cliche or saying, I'll look at the person sitting opposite me on the train and imagine the weirdest thing I can about them, I think of popular ideas and try to turn them on their head. Anything to get that first sentence on the screen. Once the first sentence sounds right the second one follows, and after an hour or so I have 2,000 words. It may not be anything to do with the book I'm working on, but it's writing, the wheels have started to turn and then I can start writing on the current project.
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