from SoulMate Publishing
If you’ve just come from J.R. Richardson, author of the fabulous Cursed be the Wicked, the lady who penned this week’s questions, welcome! If you’ve come from somewhere else, welcome, welcome! This is my stop on Romance Weekly’s author blog tour.
How often do you write?
I want to write everyday. I don’t. I probably get to write 4-6 days a week. Sometimes it’s new words, sometimes it’s editing. If I’m in the new words phase, it varies between 200-2,000 words, depending on whether I have narrations or other demands. If I’m editing, I try to do 2-3 chapters a day. I haven’t figured out how to add up word counts during editing days. And how do you figure time done plotting? Anybody? I dream of spending 6-8 uninterrupted hours a day writing. That’s my goal – so far unattainable, but as the kids get older and my husband gets more and more supportive and understands that I need unbroken quiet, my hope grows. (Because like Elna Rae says, where hope grows, miracles blossom)
Do you think it’s important to your craft to write as much as you can, and as often as you can?
When I write more I produce more. But I’ve gone through times when I haven’t been able to meet my word counts. I don’t want to derail myself by thinking if I don’t write as often as I can that I’m a failed writer. You only fail when you stop trying. Life will let you write more sometimes and less others. Sometimes we need to refill the well, so we don’t run dry and that’s part of the process, too.
Stephanie Gauvin on Mt Assiniboine
What is your opinion on the saying “if you don’t write every day, you’re not a writer”?
For me it’s similar to acting. I am definitely an actress. What I call a “career” actress, because I’ve been able to live off nothing other than acting for over 20 years. I don’t get an acting gig everyday, but I do land 3-4 of them a week. I acted and practiced the craft for several years before I could “quit my day job”. It’s the same working in any art. You must practice your craft, hone those skills, until you are marketable. I act when I’m not getting paid to act. I notice my own feelings, emotions and those of others. I observe people. A lot. Since I’m primarily a voice actor, I read out loud and “play with my instrument”. In effect, I “act” daily. This is transferable to writing. Or painting. One of my artist friends, who happens to be in Who’s Who in American Art, responds the same way whenever some one asks her, “How long did it take to do that watercolor?” “30 minutes and 30 years,” she’ll say. There’s more to writing than writing. There’s reading and thinking and observing. And social media. Can’t forget that.
Ok, hop with me now to Veronica Forand’s blog. She’s a multi-award winner, Veronica is. Including being a Finalist in the Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense.
kimhandysides.wordpress.com 