Ask the Author: Salamanca
Answered Questions (6)
Salamanca
My most recent book, Wiccan Wisdom from Water’s Edge, came from travelling to different places where I might learn something from the water’s edge. This was a project lasting over many years, and after I had assembled a collection of photos that represented the places where I had learned something unique, I drafted out the aphorisms. I fine-tuned the sayings as I put together the book from a technical standpoint, getting it ready for print in color and for Kindle version. Unfortunately, I had many more sayings and photos, however I wanted the book to be in color, so I had to publish it with a page count that would support a reasonable cost. The sideways imaging in the paperback version allowed me to preserve the images the way I wanted them to be seen.
Salamanca
Although there is plenty of daily inspiration, it cannot go all into one bucket. So I use index cards for thoughts and ideas, observations and overheard conversations. Usually, I will get an idea for a project maybe a year or two before it comes to fruition, and I’ll spend all that time building it. Wiccan Trees started out as a message and became a poem, and then over a period of two years I supported it with photographs that expressed the message. While working on the photos, the poem was constantly being revised and refined. When an idea takes hold that will not be a major project, this can be a short story, and so that is the outlet I use to express it. The inspirations all come from daily life, and could be something I had been struggling with where I finally found a solution that I want to share. Inspiration can start as a conversation at the post office or in a doctor’s office, where there is something observed about human nature that we can all learn from, and I feel it’s worth sharing. That can turn into a book, as well. We all grow, and this comes from making mistakes, learning to overcome obstacles, and meet challenges. As I make discoveries, these become the inspirations for my writing.
Salamanca
I’m working on several projects, including short stories which I submit to the contests and magazines. This is a good way to give yourself deadlines and goals, without guilt. If the contest deadline is a month away, you can pace yourself, and as you get closer, the writing gets more passionate and you work harder, because you want to submit something good and have it accepted. I’m also working on the third book in my Wiccan series, and this one will be a practical How-To book, whereas the other two books were inspirational. Wiccan Wisdom is a collection of aphorisms for daily living, with accompanying photographs. Wiccan Trees, is a single poem, also with photos, which tells a story and provides a message about what trees have to say. This third book will be different, but still have the Wiccan title. I can’t say more right now. It’s about three months away from publication.
Salamanca
Besides writing, you have to read. You need to read the classics, and the books about writing. No, you don’t sit down and do it all at once. But you get a routine, where you can do a little at a time, and it motivates you to write, and it improves what you are working on. When I say read the classics, I mean read the classics you like. If you’re a guy, you need to read Treasure Island, and Kidnapped. Women should read all the Jane Austen books. Men should read them too, but my point is, these great writers will inspire you and show you tricks about author’s voice, and story, that you will pick up on. Books on writing- I can’t give you a complete list, because I’m reading them myself all the time. Here are just a few which I really liked: Curious Attractions by Debra Spark, On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner, Ernest Hemingway on Writing, Stephen King on Writing, How to Write a Novel by Nathan Bransford, Gotham Writer’s Workshop Writing Fiction, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamotte. Start there. That’s part one. Part two is someone actually has to sit their butt in a chair and write. That be you, bro. You need to write. I’m not saying you must write every day, you need to do so many pages day. What I’m saying is you should want to write every day, all day. And everything else should seem like an annoying interference to your writing. You should want to write and pour it all out when you are going good, so that food is an inconvenience. Giving yourself a number of pages to write becomes a chore. It’s not fun. Who wants to do that? After your first and second draft – be it an article or short story or novel, then, yes, maybe there is a bit of drudgery in clean up, and because you haven’t rested from it long enough to appreciate how good you are. So it is boring. So you do it. But when you are on fire, when you are hot, that is when you write most of your writing. And that’s my advice. Let the books teach you. And write while you’re hot. Allow yourself the time to do it. You will find that you are passionate about the writing and the creating process, and expressing what is coming through you too fast for you to type.
Salamanca
Well, the first thing is to be careful about the label. I’m a writer. As soon as you say that you are labeling yourself, and setting up a whole bunch of expectations and creating a persona. You risk a lot of ego, and then you may not be a good writer on account of it. I saw a baseball cap that reads, in courier typeface of course, “Writer.” Then, what you do is more about acting like you are a writer, instead of actually writing. So the best thing about being a writer for me is that I’ve given myself permission to write, and it’s unconditional. There’s a good book on this called The Right to Write, by Julia Cameron. She explains a lot of it in detail, how we are stifled with the pressure of writing perfectly or not at all. Once you allow yourself to write for the sheer joy of it, because you love it, because you have to do it, because it’s like breathing, then that’s the best thing about being a writer. What’s the best thing about an orange cranbury muffin? Well, eating it. Same thing. What’s the best thing about living? Um… being alive. The best thing about being a writer is writing.
Salamanca
I am aware of the expression, however, writing for me isn’t a process of pushing on my part where I want to get so many pages done, or where I feel pressured to write. I’ve got lots of projects going on, so that’s one thing I’d advise. The idea of “a block” means there is a wanting and something preventing fulfillment. You can skip all that if you allow yourself to write when you are at your most creative. If you are a morning person, then allow yourself that time to do it. If a night person then do it. Not doing it during peak makes you blocked when you are not in your peak frame of mind. You won’t be blocked if creativity comes to you and you are open to it. That means writing on a notepad or index card in a crowded place when you think of something. If you don’t feel like writing, then don’t . That’s not a block. The other thing I’d say is what I’ve recently heard and always have done anyway. That is refill the well. Go for a walk, go to a museum, go to a shopping mall, and take some notes, or at least make some observations as a writer. So for me, I’ve got a few solutions to writer’s block that prevent it from occurring in the first place. Oh, read a lot. That’s inspiring to get you to write.
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