Ask the Author: Carolyn S. Spiro
Answered Questions (6)
Carolyn S. Spiro
see other answers below or this will just be a repetition.
Carolyn S. Spiro
Read. Write. Take classes. Go to workshops. Read and write some more. Ask for advice. Listen to readings out loud. And hear me: You're never too old to write. Write, walk, run, dance, write some more. Live life, don't write it, be present in life while things are happening. Feel everything. it's all grist for the mill. Write about it later and not to avoid feeling. DON't ever let anyone else tell you you can't write. If they do, turn and run for the hills and block that voice from you head. They are wrong. If you get weary, sad, lost and don't have the courage to write -- ok, it happen. Take a break. Take as long as you need. Make some money. Take a vacation -- I don't know, I can't tell you what to do, but do something different. Change it up. Change is good. Someday your passion or interest will return. If it doesn't, it wasn't meant to be. You can't force it. Live authentically and you'll figure it out.
Carolyn S. Spiro
Jeeez, the best thing about being a writer, what's the best thing about being alive?
I can write what I want, anywhere, and every day.
I can write while I'm alone, or while talking on the phone.
Writing keeps me company, in my head where none can see,
I can say the things I feel, to the jerks, the chiefs, the heels
By the time it took to write them, I have calmed, don't need to fight them.
When all is done and said, all those stories in my head
need a reader to enjoy them, and I'll gladly write some more of 'em.
I can write what I want, anywhere, and every day.
I can write while I'm alone, or while talking on the phone.
Writing keeps me company, in my head where none can see,
I can say the things I feel, to the jerks, the chiefs, the heels
By the time it took to write them, I have calmed, don't need to fight them.
When all is done and said, all those stories in my head
need a reader to enjoy them, and I'll gladly write some more of 'em.
Carolyn S. Spiro
So far I don't think I've dealt with that --not to say that I haven't been swamped by insecurity and fear of failure. I deal with that regularly. But it's also something I've devised a plan to handle... (the subject of my non-fiction book) The thing is, as long as I can use a computer, I'm never "blocked"-- it might be garbage but at least it's something. I guess if I don't worry that everything I write should be perfect, I don't get blocked. I think writer's block is a consequence of insecurity -- it's when you are too judgmental to allow anything but perfection to flow from your brain to the page. Stop trying to be perfect––it's a waste of time and people will hate you anyway... :-) What matters is to write for yourself and deal with making it better later. IMHO
Carolyn S. Spiro
I think I just answered this question in my answer to the one about where did I get my ideas for my latest book. Again, I'm inspired by lots of things -- not all of them lead anywhere, but reading the newspaper, hearing a song, or an overheard conversation can inspire me to write something - sometimes I'll write a letter, sometimes I'll just take a note or two, too often I'll hate what I've written and throw it out. Yeah, I know I shouldn't but the reality is I throw out most of what I write -- or at least I never mail the letters or emails....
Carolyn S. Spiro
I get ideas from everywhere - sometimes a snippet of conversation will set off a cascade of ideas, sometimes it's a conflict that I want to resolve, often I'm inspired by a particular situation that seems to lend itself to being enlarged into a story. I'm always in the middle of several projects. My current non-fiction project is really about the things I say to my patients and trying to flesh them out into chapters of a book.
I'm also working on completing a novel where the characters are fictional, but the ideas and conflicts come from what I deal with every day: after a terrible childhood tragedy, a woman forges a successful career only to find that when things go bad again in adulthood, she's faced with the very issues she never resolved decades ago. Will she run and hide or can she face herself and change direction?
I'm also working on completing a novel where the characters are fictional, but the ideas and conflicts come from what I deal with every day: after a terrible childhood tragedy, a woman forges a successful career only to find that when things go bad again in adulthood, she's faced with the very issues she never resolved decades ago. Will she run and hide or can she face herself and change direction?
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