Ask the Author: Lynda Engler
Answered Questions (3)
Lynda Engler
I reread what I've already written and hope for inspiration. Sometimes all I wind up with is creating backstory for characters, especially those that don't really need it. Of course, that is just an industrious form of writer's block! But it does keep me writing, even if nothing I write makes it into the final edit.
Lynda Engler
So far we’ve only published the preview version of Into the Outside. Call it a short story if you want but it’s really just a tease. We haven’t even bothered to have printed copies made… only Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and Smashwords. But it’s ready to show to publishers and agents. Meanwhile I’ve been working on its sequel for about two years. Into the Yellow Zone continues the story of Isabella and Malcolm as they get captured by the military and taken to Mt. Weather, the underground complex that houses what’s left of the government, including the mutants that they have captured and are “using” … but no spoilers on that. The second novel also spends a lot more time on Luke’s side of the adventure. Luke is Isabella’s cousin-brother who sets off during the first novel to find her and warn her about what the government’s plans for the mutants.
I’ve got about ¾ of it done; once I’m nearer to completing it, my co-author Henry Dixon will start helping me get it polished. He’s never considered himself a writer, but he is absolutely fantastic at “polishing.” He is the one who keeps asking “why” and “what about…” and finding logically flaws. He also fixes my genetic problem with word order. Without Henry my writing wouldn’t be worth sharing.
I’ve got about ¾ of it done; once I’m nearer to completing it, my co-author Henry Dixon will start helping me get it polished. He’s never considered himself a writer, but he is absolutely fantastic at “polishing.” He is the one who keeps asking “why” and “what about…” and finding logically flaws. He also fixes my genetic problem with word order. Without Henry my writing wouldn’t be worth sharing.
Lynda Engler
First, learn about the publishing world, and then keep learning because it changes all the time. I was lucky because I began my career straight out of college working for a national book store chain (yes kids, there used to be STORES that sold physical books!) Learn about what editors and publishers want. Learn about writing; this is where spelling DOES count… and grammar, and tense, and punctuation, and word order. All those rules your English teachers tried to teach you… PLEASE learn them. A great plot with awesome characters will NOT make a good book if it’s badly written.
Second, read everything you can. Don’t even think about becoming a writer if you haven’t spent your lifetime being a reader. Read in and out of your genre. Read the top sellers because your manuscript will be compared to those. Read the Classics – ok read SOME of the Classics. Some are just awful. I’m sorry but some of the “great” books are unreadable in this day and age. Don’t get me started on the Classics that I hated.
Second, read everything you can. Don’t even think about becoming a writer if you haven’t spent your lifetime being a reader. Read in and out of your genre. Read the top sellers because your manuscript will be compared to those. Read the Classics – ok read SOME of the Classics. Some are just awful. I’m sorry but some of the “great” books are unreadable in this day and age. Don’t get me started on the Classics that I hated.
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