Ask the Author: Ruu McKinney
Answered Questions (4)
Ruu McKinney
The feeling you get when you have finished creating something out of nothing.
The road from an idea to a finished book is a long one. When you can finally lay your hands on something physical that once existed solely in your head, whether it's the next bestseller or horrible, the sense of accomplishment is wonderful. Everyone should experience it at least once.
The road from an idea to a finished book is a long one. When you can finally lay your hands on something physical that once existed solely in your head, whether it's the next bestseller or horrible, the sense of accomplishment is wonderful. Everyone should experience it at least once.
Ruu McKinney
It depends on the reasons for the writer's block.
If I am just tired/foggy and not feeling creative, The Salvador Dali "Slumber with a key" approach has been helpful. Simply take a quick nap in a chair with something heavy in your hand. As you drift off to sleep, you will drop the key. The loud noise will wake you up and leave you in a state of hypnagogia - A dreamlike state between asleep and awake that is extremely conducive to creativity. Even if it doesn't help, I feel a bit more refreshed afterwards.
If I'm just stuck in a rut or I've written myself into a corner, a shift from plot-development to world building is usually helpful. Instead of putting a focus on the story arc or character that is giving me trouble, I try to instead flesh out a part of my world that has little to no connection to what is giving me the problem.
The details and events that are seemingly unrelated contribute to a sort of "literary entropy" and the ripples they create will often cause whole story arcs or plot lines to fall into place, seemingly on their own. The more life you breathe into a world, the more work it seems to do for you.
If I am just tired/foggy and not feeling creative, The Salvador Dali "Slumber with a key" approach has been helpful. Simply take a quick nap in a chair with something heavy in your hand. As you drift off to sleep, you will drop the key. The loud noise will wake you up and leave you in a state of hypnagogia - A dreamlike state between asleep and awake that is extremely conducive to creativity. Even if it doesn't help, I feel a bit more refreshed afterwards.
If I'm just stuck in a rut or I've written myself into a corner, a shift from plot-development to world building is usually helpful. Instead of putting a focus on the story arc or character that is giving me trouble, I try to instead flesh out a part of my world that has little to no connection to what is giving me the problem.
The details and events that are seemingly unrelated contribute to a sort of "literary entropy" and the ripples they create will often cause whole story arcs or plot lines to fall into place, seemingly on their own. The more life you breathe into a world, the more work it seems to do for you.
Ruu McKinney
I am currently working on the second volume of Gemsong Saga. This book picks up five years after the events in the first volume, and continues the story as seen through Zephyr's eyes.
Ruu McKinney
Writing is one of those things that always seems to fall through the cracks, especially in the beginning. It's difficult, and not always fun, and there will always be something else you NEED to do first. More often than not, writing becomes the thing you perpetually tell yourself you'll get to tomorrow, and it never happens.
Make time for it and stick with it. Make it as routine as brushing your teeth. If you can do it enough that it becomes habit, then you have already scaled one of the biggest barriers blocking you from becoming a writer.
Make time for it and stick with it. Make it as routine as brushing your teeth. If you can do it enough that it becomes habit, then you have already scaled one of the biggest barriers blocking you from becoming a writer.
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