Ask the Author: Rory Marron
Answered Questions (4)
Rory Marron
Iyengar yoga and tai-chi, and writing! Writing (sitting hunched at a keyboard) is bad for your posture and being sedentary is bad for your health in general. If you are tired mentally but not physically you sleep poorly, your ability to concentrate suffers and so does your writing. Writing is very tiring mentally. You are controlling the lives of all your characters or wrestling with plots or, as I do, planning and carrying out a research strategy (that can take over year per book). It takes some doing keeping it all on track, so your health and energy levels are important. Avoid alcohol. There are no worthwhile plots found at the bottom of a glass.
The best way to avoid blocks is to have an idea what you want to write in the next session. Finish a session by noting down keywords or phrases for the start of the next, then stop for the day. When you go back, these notes serve as a reminder and get the thought process back up to speed quickly.
The best way to avoid blocks is to have an idea what you want to write in the next session. Finish a session by noting down keywords or phrases for the start of the next, then stop for the day. When you go back, these notes serve as a reminder and get the thought process back up to speed quickly.
Rory Marron
Don't waste time reading advice! Keep writing (even for just 30 minutes a day if that's all you can manage but no net, calls, tweets or texts)-- everything switched off to ensure no distraction. Aim for one hundred words. Don't blog, at least until you've finished the first novel! Why? Because if you are blogging or reading other people's writing YOU are NOT writing. Don't get bogged down in 'noise'. Enter your 'sanctuary' and write!
Be aware that writing drains emotional energy. Make sure you make quality time for the real people in your life, not your characters. They can take over and relationships can suffer.
Be aware that writing drains emotional energy. Make sure you make quality time for the real people in your life, not your characters. They can take over and relationships can suffer.
Rory Marron
In the case of my story, I was so surprised by what I read in the newspaper article (see 'What inspired you to write'), that I felt I wanted to tell the tale.
Rory Marron
An article in a newspaper some years ago.
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