Ask the Author: Greg Barth
Answered Questions (3)
Greg Barth
Read a lot. Read everything you can. Watch a lot of movies. Study the movies you like best. You can learn much about pacing and how to build a scene from watching a good movie. And then I would say let yourself go wild as you write. Hold nothing back. You must first entertain yourself. If you are not enjoying it, then it will be a chore for your readers. Think of a few big, exciting scenes that you can write toward. As you are doing this, if you find yourself writing a scene that is not as much fun as the one you can't wait to get to, stop and ask yourself how you can make this scene interesting and the best it can be. You want the reader flipping the pages and not being bored. And then seek to elicit emotion in your readers. Your audience wants to feel something--pain, jealousy, satisfaction, turned on, angry, love--anything, when they read your story.
Greg Barth
The best thing is plotting the novel, writing it, and discovering new things along the way. My subconscious works in the background, and I'm often amazed by what it delivers just in time. I never know what's going to come out. It's a rush.
The best thing about publishing is getting input from others, whether they be editors or writers. Writing is a lonely task. Publishing is a team effort. There's nothing like working with people you admire and respect. The end result is much stronger.
The best thing about publishing is getting input from others, whether they be editors or writers. Writing is a lonely task. Publishing is a team effort. There's nothing like working with people you admire and respect. The end result is much stronger.
Greg Barth
I write. It's that simple, and it's that hard. But I know of no other way to deal with writer's block.
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