Ask the Author: Hamilton Crane
Answered Questions (6)
Hamilton Crane
If the deadline’s a long way off, wait for the block to go away, because it will. If the deadline is uncomfortably close, warn your editor that there could be a delay, because other people’s work depends on yours – there are editors, copy-editors, printers, publicists, audiobook readers, etc. and they all have schedules in which there’s a time slot allocated to your book.
Hamilton Crane
Writers don’t have to commute to work! My first full-time job was in Berkeley Square, in the heart of London. I lived thirty miles away, and had a daily journey by train followed by the underground “tube”, plus a walk at each end. Even if things went well it added over an hour to both the start and the finish of my working day. Being able to live and work in the same building is a huge improvement.
Hamilton Crane
If you start by trying to write the sort of book you enjoy reading, you’ll be better able to assess the quality of your own work. Unfortunately you may start to find it becomes easier for you to spot how other writers assemble the plots in their stories, which could make reading them less enjoyable.
Hamilton Crane
“Miss Seeton Flies High” - another adventure set in the 1970s (only one, “Miss Seeton’s Finest Hour”, has been set earlier - in 1940).
Hamilton Crane
See “Where did you get the idea …”! Also, if I know I have an interesting scene to write today, keeping me away from the keyboard is the challenge - and if I know the submission deadline is approaching, that’s inspiration too.
Hamilton Crane
This one was inspired by a photograph in a newspaper. Most of my ideas are inspired by real events, so I keep a file of newspaper cuttings that might assist in stories to come. Often the details have to be toned down before use! One of my editors objected to a story outline based on a real news item as “not fictionally credible” and when applying the same principle to weird happenings in my own life, I do understand what she meant.
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