Ask the Author: Barbara Kay
Answered Questions (6)
Barbara Kay
If I am stuck on a certain writing project and really can't go forward, I start another. Never allow yourself to be committed solely to one writing project at a time, any more than you would permit yourself only one book at a time to read. Deadlines work well for me. i have a horror of not fulfilling a writing obligation. Open-endedness is a killer for writer's who are notorious procrastinators. Create deadlines for yourself, even if they are somewhat artificial. Guilt is good for writers.
Barbara Kay
The best thing for me is the solitude, the independence and the flexibility. I would hate working in an office at structured times. Also, there is no retirement age. That works for me. I am pretty old!
Barbara Kay
Read a lot. Ask yourself why you gravitate to certain authors. Ask yourself what it is about their writing that attracts you. There is no shame in "copying" a style for practice. Your own style will assert itself eventually. Write small. Write micro-pieces. Circulate your micro-pieces to people you trust for honest criticism. Develop a tough hide for criticism. Accept that you will fail more than succeed if you are at the beginning of your writing career. Embrace failure by learning at least one salient fact about it that you can apply to your next effort. Write something every day, even if it is a well thought-out email. I write long emails to a few select friends from whom I love getting well-written emails back. Correspondance is still writing.
Barbara Kay
I am back to writing my columns and, as well, writing book reviews and the occasional speech. I would love to get started on another novel, but it would have to revolve around a theme I feel very strongly about. Stories in themselves don't bounce around in my mind. The idea for a story begins with a strongly held opinion.
Barbara Kay
I have been a professional writer for many years, so writing comes naturally to me. The kind of writing I do - newspaper opinion columns - demands discipline and reliability, so I do not wait for "inspiration" and I do not allow myself the luxury of "writer's block." Instead I plan ahead to be inspired by constantly researching topics and planning strategies in my mind, so that when I sit down at the computer, the writing begins when I decide it has to do. Inspiration really is 90% perspiration.
Barbara Kay
I have loved horses all my life, even though I was never anything more than an average rider (not for want of trying! to be better!). When my athletic daughter became interested in riding, I was happy to support her ambitions. She had the talent to go far in horse sport and I was her constant companion at horse shows and training and travelling on the circuit. During the ten years of her amateur career, I had lots of time to observe the unique world that constitutes horse sport. As part of the sport's "dark side," we suffered a betrayal by my daughter's trusted mentor, which led to a lawsuit and our exit from the sport. Brooding over our disappointment, I conceived the idea of writing a novel to turn our lemons into lemonade.
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