Ask the Author: Sandra Shaw Homer
Answered Questions (6)
Sandra Shaw Homer
Since I always knew I wanted to write, I just determined to sit down one day and start . . . anywhere. Unable to attend writers' courses here in Costa Rica, I read a great deal about writing -- there are many good books available. First I tried short stories. Material around me, in the small village life of Costa Rica, abounded. But good short stories are almost as difficult to pull off as haiku! Next I started a novel, but 100 pages into it, I didn't know where it was going, so it's sitting in a drawer somewhere unfinished. I've been thinking lately I'll get back to it.
Good writing involves close observation of what's around you, and I next set myself the task of writing good description -- this turned, finally, into my upcoming memoir, Evelio's Garden. (I had professional editorial help here, which I highly recommend.)
Travel, of course, is a natural. You're observing all the time, thrown into a new world just crowded with new sensations, new people, new conversations. I have no problem there -- it just happens. And I have another travel memoir in the works. The only thing required here is the discipline of keeping a daily notebook, and then weaving the result into a compelling narrative.
Did I say discipline? Any writer will tell you that you have to face that empty screen or page every day, even if you do nothing but sit there!
Good writing involves close observation of what's around you, and I next set myself the task of writing good description -- this turned, finally, into my upcoming memoir, Evelio's Garden. (I had professional editorial help here, which I highly recommend.)
Travel, of course, is a natural. You're observing all the time, thrown into a new world just crowded with new sensations, new people, new conversations. I have no problem there -- it just happens. And I have another travel memoir in the works. The only thing required here is the discipline of keeping a daily notebook, and then weaving the result into a compelling narrative.
Did I say discipline? Any writer will tell you that you have to face that empty screen or page every day, even if you do nothing but sit there!
Sandra Shaw Homer
I don't believe writer's block really exists . . . not if you have the sense to realize that writing is all you want to do. Just open yourself to it; it will come.
Sandra Shaw Homer
Closing your eyes and allowing yourself to be in the moment you're trying to find words for. When that happens, it allows others to see through your eyes to that same moment.
Sandra Shaw Homer
Be willing to work! But if you have a specific question, please ask.
Sandra Shaw Homer
A memoir of my life in Costa Rica (and before) that somehow got mixed up with the story of the creation of "Evelio's Garden." Look for it, coming soon!
Sandra Shaw Homer
Travel without writing is just a little less-than, for me. Writing about it makes it more real, in some way it's hard to explain. It's just natural for me to keep a travel journal, and, in the case of Letters from the Pacific, I intended to write one passenger's "ship's log" of the journey, including the personal journey. So, as much as the book is about a 49-day circuit around the South Pacific, it's also about discovering where I'm really going.
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