Ask the Author: Rebecca Christiansen
Answered Questions (4)
Rebecca Christiansen
Small things inspire me all the time -- good books, kids saying weird things, the way the moon hits the water when I drive home at night. But I don't have to be actively inspired every day to write. I sit down and I do it.
Rebecca Christiansen
Commit yourself. Commit the time. If writing is what you love, you must do it wholeheartedly. If you don't commit, you won't get anything done. If you spend your life saying you'll write that story "someday," it'll never happen. Do it NOW, because you CAN. All it takes is a page a day, and in less than a year you'll have a first draft. Or, if you're up for a challenge, try NaNoWriMo: 1,667 words per day for 30 days, and BAM, first draft written. If you want to write, do it. "Write" is a verb.
Rebecca Christiansen
Well, it's pretty awesome to have found your passion and purpose in this world! I'm forever grateful that I never had that existential crisis of "what should I do with my life?" or "what do I love?" I always knew. The problem was finding the time and resources to be able to devote myself to it. Another amazing thing is the feeling of finishing a first draft -- there's really nothing like it in the whole world!
Rebecca Christiansen
I'm lucky enough that I have very few episodes of traditional writer's block. For example, I always have something I'm working on, and something lined up next. I never have to worry about getting new ideas, as I have dozens. But I do have days where I don't feel like writing, or manuscripts and plots that just don't want to cooperate. If the problem is me and not the story, I can easily take a day or a week off and that feeling usually goes away. If the problem is the story, it's probably time to set that one aside and work on the next thing. If I get an idea for a solution later, great. If not, it's okay. I try not to beat myself up over one story not working.
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