Ask the Author: Haystack
Answered Questions (5)
Haystack
I'm currently working on a short story. It's based on an urban legend, and is supposed to be in the same universe as a previous short story I published called "The Bunnyman".
Haystack
I deal with writer's block by stopping. It's that simple. I stop. If you're writing a story, and you start suffering from writer's block, just stop. Stop writing and go do something else. Anything else. Go ride a bike, go for a swim, watch a movie, play a board game, anything. For me, I find that the stories I write tend to be inspired by what I have personally experienced. So when I get writer's block, I go out and visit with friends or something, and sooner or later something will hit me and I'll get an idea about what to put down on the page. And take notes if you have to. Keep some scraps of paper and a pen/pencil with you at all times and take notes. You'll be glad you did.
Haystack
My advice for aspiring writers is to write everyday. Just write. But you have to do it everyday. Write about anything. Write any story that comes to your mind, no matter how silly it might seem. Odds are, someone will like it. And that's another thing. If someone doesn't like one of your stories, it doesn't matter. It won't make a bit of difference, because for every one person you find that doesn't like any one of your stories, you'll find about ten who will.
Haystack
What inspired me to write was that I like telling stories. I like telling stories, but often times I stammer and stutter when I talk. This happens especially when I get excited about telling the story. So I started writing down the stories I come up with so people could read them instead of listen to me stammer or stutter through the story.
Haystack
Let's see. My most recent book was the short story "Past Epilogue". I got the idea for that story from a couple of places actually. I love listening to late night radio, which is where you go to when you want to listen to all the conspiracy theory talk shows. And part of the story comes from that idea that the government doesn't always tell us everything. The other part came from this little Egyptian style pyramid I found at a thrift store one time. It was a little wooden pyramid that had been painted with bronze colored paint, and I thought that was a bit odd to have a bronze pyramid; even if it was in Egypt. So I started playing around with the idea of finding an odd pyramid in an unexpected place, and what the government might do. So, that's where the story came from.
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