Ask the Author: Benjamin Mumford-Zisk
Answered Questions (6)
Benjamin Mumford-Zisk
I have very little writer's block. Not sure why, it sounds like hell. Sometimes I have a hard time getting things to sound right, but I can always come back to them. I think the best tools I have for dealing with blockage are patience and an hourglass. I'm patient enough to come back to things later, when I've got them straight in my head, and if all else fails, I turn the hour glass. If I haven't figured out what to say by the time the sand has fallen, I'm done for the day. But there's always tomorrow.
Benjamin Mumford-Zisk
You have license to write about whatever the hell you want, however the hell you want it said. Your imagination is your only limiting factor. If I can get a little hippie-dippie for a moment, writing, especially writing fiction, is true spiritual and mental freedom.
Benjamin Mumford-Zisk
Write.
Sadly, a lot of things in life are just that simple. I'll ape Yoda here: Do, or do not. If you have an idea, write it. BOOM! You're a writer. You might not be professional, published, rich, successful, any of the words we place ahead of Writer when we make our titles, but you're still a writer. The field is full of BS artists who place a well-placed scarf ahead of content generation, which is infuriating sometimes, but in the end, if you devote time to WRITING, not looking like a writer but REALLY WRITING WORDS, then you are a writer. End of story. So my advice is to sit down a write.
Sadly, a lot of things in life are just that simple. I'll ape Yoda here: Do, or do not. If you have an idea, write it. BOOM! You're a writer. You might not be professional, published, rich, successful, any of the words we place ahead of Writer when we make our titles, but you're still a writer. The field is full of BS artists who place a well-placed scarf ahead of content generation, which is infuriating sometimes, but in the end, if you devote time to WRITING, not looking like a writer but REALLY WRITING WORDS, then you are a writer. End of story. So my advice is to sit down a write.
Benjamin Mumford-Zisk
Right now I'm working on the sequel to The Origami Man, which I've tentatively titled The Battle of Ghaneb, although I don't imagine that title will make it through to publication. I'm also slowly editing/putting together a small collection of my short stories, and adding to my stock of Ideas To Write When I Have The Time.
Benjamin Mumford-Zisk
Honestly my answer to this sort of question sounds like a copout: I am inspired to write, so I write. I mean, I like a space I can fill with junk, I like my coffee to the right of the keyboard, I like to be able to get up and fart around as needed, but really, I am if anything compelled to write. I'm always inspired, or I would be doing something else with my life.
Benjamin Mumford-Zisk
I got the idea for The Origami Man from two sources.
I've always wanted to write a story about a suit of armor that was stored under the skin, and when I was putting together the seed that became The Origami Man, that idea came back to the fore.
More than that, though, I've always liked to imagine what a superhero would be like in real life. I have other stories I'm working on that explore other elements of this idea, but with The Origami Man, I really wanted to write a story about a real person struggling with unreal characteristics, such as immortality.
I've always wanted to write a story about a suit of armor that was stored under the skin, and when I was putting together the seed that became The Origami Man, that idea came back to the fore.
More than that, though, I've always liked to imagine what a superhero would be like in real life. I have other stories I'm working on that explore other elements of this idea, but with The Origami Man, I really wanted to write a story about a real person struggling with unreal characteristics, such as immortality.
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