Guest Post by Jen Winters — Reader’s Guide to Writers
Today’s guest post comes from Jen Winters. If you’d like to be a guest poster on the blog, please contact me.
Articles written by guest posters are all their own words. I don’t edit, censor or change anything.
Jen Winters fell in love with paranormal romance after her daughter was born and she needed a way to escape reality for a few minutes a day. She loved it so much she decided to take her own pen to it. The world of the Guardians was developed through deeply irreligious conversations with her father who likes to misinterpret scripture as often as humanly possible and a good dose of did-I-just-read-that-! when looking into ancient near eastern mythology and scripture.
READER’S GUIDE TO WRITERS
Have you ever wondered what your favorite author was thinking when they wrote your favorite book? Have you ever asked an author a question and received an answer you thought was either completely dissatisfactory or completely amazing? My answer to both questions is a resounding YES! I have asked a lot of authors a lot of questions, so here are my top three worst questions and how to ask them correctly.
1. How do you find inspiration?
This question comes in many different skins:
Where did you find your inspiration?
What inspired you?
The honest-to-god’s own truth is that we don’t have to go looking for inspiration; inspiration stalks us. We go to bed and can’t get to sleep because our work in progress is on our minds. We wake up in the middle of the night (I am currently writing this at 2 am), because we are bursting to the seams with something that we have to get on paper right now. We sit in our doctor’s waiting room and are startled when our name is called because our minds were in a totally different world. This is a writer’s life. Inspiration does not need to be sought; it chases us every ungodly hour of every day.
So, what can you ask instead?
Was there a moment in your writing when you really felt the influence of another person or place bring your story to life? What was it?
The answer for me changes with every book I write and so I don’t have to answer the same question over and over, I get to be creative with my answers, which is my reason for writing. I love being creative, and so does your favorite author.
2. Who is your favorite author?
Really? Is that not obvious? I am, of course. But that isn’t the most humble answer so I have to come up with a favorite among the thousands of authors I have read in my lifetime…
Let’s set the record straight: we are our most favorite author. We have to be, but we also read like it’s going out of style. In the last week alone I have read seven new to me authors, and a couple of them were amazing! So how do you ask this question without making a liar out of your favorite author?
What author do you read that makes you want to be a better writer?
When we have to answer this question we have to actually think about our reading experiences and make a judgment value.
Sherrilyn Kenyon is the one for me. I love her writing, I strive to write as well as she does, to construct a paranormal world and romance as intricately as she has done hers. The other one for me is Stephen King. I’ve only ever read one of his novels, horror isn’t my genre, but I love his essays. He has a way with words that makes me wonder in awe sometimes. I read as much of his non-fictional stuff as I can, because I absolutely adore his writing style.
3. How long did it take you to write your book?
This question has no good answer. It’s a process to write a book. From the moment of inception to the final publication, the book is being written. I have book that is still being written and it was finished fifteen years ago. We all have projects like that. But that certain book you are asking about? Who knows? My book, Kissing Demons, took me six years to get from inception to publication. I was not writing that entire time. I did absolutely nothing with it while I was pregnant with my second child. Nine whole months of ignoring it! Do I count that in the time it took to write it? No, not really.
So what are better questions to ask?
Were there moments that you found difficult to write? What were they?
The answer to this question will be more in depth and give you a more accurate answer to your question. I can remember my editor telling me that my evil dude wasn’t evil enough. I said, “Yeah, I know! I want my readers to like him.”
Her reply sent me reeling: “You have to kill someone.”
Whaaaaa—?
She was right, of course, but it took me months to get up the courage to actually do it. I didn’t know which of my characters I could let go. It was hard, and it caused quite a delay in my writing, but I am a better writer for it. Once I actually buckled down a decided to kill someone, my story took on new life. And that is a better answer than “Six years.”
Contact Jen and buy her books:
Kissing Demons
www.twitter.com/jenwintersne
www.facebook.com/jenwintersne
www.jenwintersne.wordpress.com
