Ask the Author: Edison McDaniels
Answered Questions (6)
Edison McDaniels
From an incident during my training as a surgeon. It's been tumbling around in my head for all the years since.
Edison McDaniels
I've always read a lot, I'd rather read than watch a movie. One day I just picked up a pen and started writing. I was in the sixth grade.
I wrote some cool short stories in college, and almost went for an MFA. But I also had a passion for surgery and so applied to med school. I told myself if I didn't get in, I'd apply for an MFA. Well, I got in.
I wrote some cool short stories in college, and almost went for an MFA. But I also had a passion for surgery and so applied to med school. I told myself if I didn't get in, I'd apply for an MFA. Well, I got in.
Edison McDaniels
An absolutely terrifying novel about fiends, ghosts, and ghouls set in a modern hospital. Great fun.
Edison McDaniels
Read. Read. Read. Then write two novel length pieces with the door closed. At the end of the second, revise the first. It will be fresh by then and your writing—if you are paying attention and reading along the way—will have improved a hundred fold. After revising the first, put it away and revise the second. Then start on a third.
Personally, I recommend throwing the first two in the trash after that, but at the very least don't ever submit them.
After the third, put it away and write a fourth. Then revise the third. Now you might think about submitting it.
The secret to writing is this:
1. Talent. You can't make a bad writer good, but you can make a good writer great with effort.
2. Read, read, read.
3. Revision, revision, revision. This is key. Most stories get submitted too soon in their development process.
I guess that's about it.
Personally, I recommend throwing the first two in the trash after that, but at the very least don't ever submit them.
After the third, put it away and write a fourth. Then revise the third. Now you might think about submitting it.
The secret to writing is this:
1. Talent. You can't make a bad writer good, but you can make a good writer great with effort.
2. Read, read, read.
3. Revision, revision, revision. This is key. Most stories get submitted too soon in their development process.
I guess that's about it.
Edison McDaniels
The readers. I love hearing about their reactions to my stories, good, bad, or indifferent. My ideal reader was my mom. She's passed now, God rest her gentle sole, but I still write hoping to get a smile or better out of her. That said, I also write with all my other gentle readers in mind. I want to take them to unexpected heights and I love it when I hear back that I've done just that, though it's the ones who let me know something didn't quite work that I probably pay most attention to. What went wrong, that sort of thing. Kind of like a post-mortem. Or an accident investigation.
How can I do it better next time.
How can I do it better next time.
Edison McDaniels
I'm not sure I've ever had a true block. I've certainly had times where writing seemed harder than others, but I just write through it. And if I can't write I read. Reading is fundamental to writing (you can't be a good writer if you don't read, no way). On those days where the writing doesn't seem to be flowing easily, I take that as permission to put the pen away and read something. It works.
Another thing that works is making writing a habit. Write everyday, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Period, no excuses. When you do that, it becomes a need and your mind expects it. You feel worse NOT writing.
Another thing that works is making writing a habit. Write everyday, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Period, no excuses. When you do that, it becomes a need and your mind expects it. You feel worse NOT writing.
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