Ask the Author: Amber Royer
Answered Questions (5)
Amber Royer
I just finished the first draft of the second book in the Bean to Bar Mysteries during NaNoWriMo. It's a bit rough around the edges, but the editing phase will be fairly straightforward.
Amber Royer
Getting to create entire worlds and entire lives. There's this massive feeling of satisfaction when you've developed everything enough for your characters to start to feel real. You start to care about them like they were your friends. So that when you get to the end, and they finally get what they deserve out of life, and what they didn't realize they needed all along, there's euphoria.
Getting to share those worlds and characters -- and finding out that even one reader has shared your euphoria -- makes it so much better.
Getting to share those worlds and characters -- and finding out that even one reader has shared your euphoria -- makes it so much better.
Amber Royer
Study the craft. The more you learn about plot structure and characterization, the stronger your stories will be. Study people and study psychology. Because that is the heart of any story.
Read widely -- but don't hurt yourself with harsh comparisons of your work to that of your favorite authors, especially when you are first starting out. You wouldn't walk into your first day of art class and expect to paint like Rembrandt. But you might expect to study Rembrandt, and copy the masters to learn technique. Do the same with your reading -- not literally copying out passages from your faves, but by testing techniques to see what works for you, as you develop your own voice..
Read widely -- but don't hurt yourself with harsh comparisons of your work to that of your favorite authors, especially when you are first starting out. You wouldn't walk into your first day of art class and expect to paint like Rembrandt. But you might expect to study Rembrandt, and copy the masters to learn technique. Do the same with your reading -- not literally copying out passages from your faves, but by testing techniques to see what works for you, as you develop your own voice..
Amber Royer
I don't usually get writer's block, because I look at writing like any other job. Like Faulkner said, "I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o'clock every morning." Only -- I'm not a morning person. We're talking more like two in the afternoon, at the earliest.
On the somewhat rare occasions when I do find myself blocked, it means either I'm afraid of something (like a really emotional scene, or something I'm not sure I want other people to read), my perfectionism is kicking in (I want the scene to be better than it is turning out), or there's something wrong with the plot (and my brain is trying to tell me I'm pushing in the wrong direction). The key to getting past a block is to figure out which it is. If it's a plot issue, it's time to revise the outline. If it's a scene issue, moving on to the next scene that is vivid in my mind will allow me to figure out the shape of the bridge I need to build to get to it. Fear is more difficult to have a standard fix for. Sometimes it is just about forcing myself to write SOMETHING during the time I have allotted.
On the somewhat rare occasions when I do find myself blocked, it means either I'm afraid of something (like a really emotional scene, or something I'm not sure I want other people to read), my perfectionism is kicking in (I want the scene to be better than it is turning out), or there's something wrong with the plot (and my brain is trying to tell me I'm pushing in the wrong direction). The key to getting past a block is to figure out which it is. If it's a plot issue, it's time to revise the outline. If it's a scene issue, moving on to the next scene that is vivid in my mind will allow me to figure out the shape of the bridge I need to build to get to it. Fear is more difficult to have a standard fix for. Sometimes it is just about forcing myself to write SOMETHING during the time I have allotted.
Amber Royer
The barista put a cup on the counter. "There is no more coffee -- in the world."
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