Laura

Laura asked Lois McMaster Bujold:

When you are busy writing do you notice a decline in your interest in reading? Or maybe in reading works similar to what you are writing? Perhaps this pertains more to fiction than non-fiction, but I've experienced seasons when a world is actively gestating inside my head and similar stories lose their appeal. Curious to know if others experience something similar. Thank you!

Lois McMaster Bujold My brain seems to be a narrow bridge with only one lane. Input and output have to wait their turns on each other. When I'm writing, I have to reduce reading, or my mind is too full of other people's stuff to hear myself think.

The internet is especially bad for this, because there is no such thing as coming to the end and being able to close it, finished, and move on.

T, L.

More Answered Questions

Gard Evyr

Gard Evyr asked Lois McMaster Bujold:

Hi, Lois, thanks for your habitual championing of Patricia Wrede's blog, it was through you that I discovered the veritable goldmine of writing info. It took several weeks but I started at the oldest post and made my way pretty much through all (hundreds) of her posts. I felt like I read a voluminous novel on writing technique but I feel like I've learned an unquantifiable number of things. She's a brilliant didact. ?

Shane Castle

Shane Castle asked Lois McMaster Bujold:

Many authors write material that is ultimately cut out of the finished product, either by the author herself or by an editor. Do you have any backlogs of text that did not make it to the published work that you deem readable by your fans? Or that you regret leaving out?

Chad Frye

Chad Frye asked Lois McMaster Bujold:

As former fellow____________( Columbusite, Columbuser, Columbusonian, etc, etc), I feel like I've seen some interesting and familiar settings in your work, particularly in The Sharing Knife. In the Vorkosigan Saga, I always picture Impsec headquarters as looking a bit like the nihilistic Ohio Historical Society in Columbus. A) Are you familiar with this building? B) If so, am getting it right?

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Lois McMaster Bujold

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