An Interview with Author, Kerry Horvath

Why do you write?When I’m writing I feel like my truest self as if writing is what I was meant to do. I have this incredible imagination and writing helps me find a way to express it. And I’ve wanted to be able to move someone that I’ve never met just as other writers have moved me, to give someone a sense of wonderment and beauty in this world.What made you decide to sit down and actually start something?I’ve always enjoyed writing. When I was a child I wrote poems to my grandmother in blue crayon. My first book I began after college and it was kind of a test to see if I could do it. It was a young adult novel that I’d planned as a series of four books. That first book ended up being four hundred pages long.Do you write full-time or part-time? I write whenever I can. But I mainly write part-time because I do have another job to consider. Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?I like to write more in the evenings than in the mornings. If I have a day free I’ll usually go to my favorite coffee shop and write from five to eight hours straight. I’ll sit there with my chai tea and little by little pour out words onto the pages. Do you write on a typewriter, computer, dictate or longhand?I’ll write on my laptop. Once in a while I’ll feel like I need to try something new just to jolt the imagination and I’ll break out my pencil and a plethora of notebooks.Where do your ideas come from?I start with an interesting, main character and write my story around them. I’ll then sketch out a plot and go back and develop that character’s flaws, desires and taste in things and then it’s a race to the end.  What is the hardest thing about writing?For me it’s the self-doubt. You are working on a book for months and months and perhaps years never knowing if a single person will enjoy it or understand it.What is the easiest thing about writing?When you’re in a great writing rhythm and the words are dripping off your fingertips so fast you can hardly keep up.How long on average does it take you to write a book?It takes about two years.Do you ever get writer’s Block?Yes, I think all writers eventually experience writer’s block.Any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block?
I think putting the writing aside and letting it all fall out of your head for a little while helps. Sometimes you’ve just been pushing too hard on it and nothing seems to be working. In those times I’ll take a bit of a break and let it breathe then go back to it and something kindles my imagination again and then I’m unblocked.