“Write Every Day” – Simone Pond
Award-winning author of young adult dystopian fiction.
Simone Pond is an award-winning author of dystopian fiction. Her current series includes The City Center
, The New Agenda
, The Mainframe
, and The Torrent
. She also has a short story series called Voices of the Apocalypse
.
She grew up in Kensington, Maryland—a small town just outside of Washington D.C. As a young girl, she loved writing in her journal and making up stories, but after reading S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, everything changed. Amazed that a woman could write so convincingly from a teenage boy’s perspective, Pond became determined to become a writer as well.
Pond currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their Boston Terrier.
What keeps you motivated to keep writing?
For me, writing every day keeps the momentum going. When I take a few days off, I start lagging. That quickly turns into utter laziness, which is usually backed up by an irrational fear that I’ll never write again.
What helps keep my writing going is making a daily appointment in my calendar and sticking to it. Also, I meet with writer friends at least once a week to catch up, share ideas and write. It helps to be around other writers. It’s a lonely gig.
When I became serious about publishing, the first thing I did was make a timeline. I started with an ideal launch date and worked back from there, leaving plenty of time to create. I do this for every project to make me accountable. During the process, I’ll check to see if I’m on schedule and what I need to do to get back on track. It’s not just about writing the pages, there’s a lot of production involved, marketing and advertising. All of these things need to happen simultaneously. It’s a lot like juggling. But once you get the formula down, it’s like second nature.
Before I start page one, I write an outline. I cannot work without one. It’d be like trying to get somewhere without directions. The outline is always the toughest part of the process for me, but it’s worth it. I usually know if the story is going to work right away, rather than waste months blindly working on something that just doesn’t come together (I have many half-finished things from over the years).
Then I sit down and write, write, and write. It doesn’t matter if the first draft is horrible. Nobody is going to read it. What’s important is finishing something. The editing process is where the real magic happens.
While I’m writing I like to have hot tea, my laptop and music playing. I usually write in my living room, but when I get stuck I go to a local coffee shop to get re-inspired.
The most important advice I’ve ever received is to keep writing. I like to add: it saves lives.
Some of my favorite books on writing:
Bird by Bird
by Anne Lamott
Wired for Story
by Lisa Cron
The Writers Journey
by Christopher Vogler
On Writing
by Stephen King
Check out the New Agenda book series and the Voices of the Apocalypse short stories collection at her website and follow her blog at Simone Says…
Be sure to join the mailing list for updates on new book releases..
To reach Simone on various social networks:
Massimo Marino is a scientist envisioning science fiction. He spent years at CERN and The Lawrence Berkeley Lab followed by lead positions with Apple, Inc. and the World Economic Forum. He is also co-founder of “Squares on Blue”, a Big Data Analytics service company.
Massimo currently lives in France and crosses the border with Switzerland multiple times daily, although he is no smuggler.
As a scientist writing science fiction, he went from smashing particles at accelerators at SLAC and CERN to smashing words on a computer screen. Massimo is a published author with Booktrope Publishing, LCC.
He’s the author of multi-awarded Daimones Trilogy.
His novels have received the Seal of Excellency from both AwesomeIndies.net and IndiePENdents.org
• 2012 PRG Reviewer’s Choice Award Winner in Science Fiction
• 2013 Hall of Fame – Best in Science Fiction, Quality Reads UK Book Club
• 2013 PRG Reviewer’s Choice Award Winner in Science Fiction Series
• 2014 Finalist – Science Fiction – Indie Excellence Awards L.A.
• 2014 Award Winner – Science Fiction Honorable Mention – Readers’ Favorite Annual Awards
His novels are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble (Nook), iTunes Apple Store, and many other retailers around the world.
Join his mailing list for new releases, or follow him on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.
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