Ask the Author: Lisa M. White
Answered Questions (6)
Lisa M. White
When my fantasy author group got together to decide the theme for the War Torn anthology (the theme being "war torn"), I was stumped because although I'm a really eclectic reader, one genre I really don't read at all is war. So I decided to interpret the theme a little differently and instead of dealing with communities being torn apart by war, or people being at war with others, I decided to explore the idea of people being at war with them selves, and torn by the conflicts and decisions they had to make. One thing I've found in both of my career paths is how passionate people feel about health, I've met staunchly anti-natural health types and staunchly anti-mainstream types and I thought it would be fun to explore how people would cope if their experiences forced them to "be the enemy".
Lisa M. White
Since I started writing again (I stopped writing fiction after having kids because I was working on my cooking show and finishing my naturopathy studies) I found that inspiration wasn't a problem. I find inspiration in everything, from threads on social media, news stories, discussions with my friends, and from the world around me. Eg. with the vampire series I'm writing (Familiar) I went to the Adelaide Botanical Gardens with my family and every time I see the Friends gate I can't help but think: Vampire meeting spot:-)
Lisa M. White
I haven't really had a lot of experience with this yet - being a "new" fiction writer. Though I have a story I'm thinking of writing and I wouldn't call it writers block, it's more a case of being "writer vague". The biggest problem I'm having with this story is that I'm not clear on my character conflict yet. Once I have that down, and I can see what the challenges my characters need to face, then I find the rest tends to follow. So if you're feeling blocked on how to finish the story, I'd probably re-visit the character conflicts and ask myself what things need to happen to the character to help that conflict resolve and then take it from there.
Lisa M. White
I love that I can learn about different things.
I love that reading fiction is part of "the job".
I love that I get to explore different sides of a situation.
I love that I get to live vicariously through my characters.
I love the flexibility -eg. I can write daily, or I can write in bursts. I can write at home, or at my favourite cafe. I can write in the morning, or in the night.
I get to be a professional daydreamer:-)
I love that reading fiction is part of "the job".
I love that I get to explore different sides of a situation.
I love that I get to live vicariously through my characters.
I love the flexibility -eg. I can write daily, or I can write in bursts. I can write at home, or at my favourite cafe. I can write in the morning, or in the night.
I get to be a professional daydreamer:-)
Lisa M. White
Oh wow, I think so far I've learned things the hard way haha so I've got a lot of advice for writers but I'll try and keep this brief and useful:-)
With the creative side of writing:
For YEARS I had a series of beginnings. I wrote so many stories, but I didn't finish my first full length novel until I was 26 (it was a romance)(I'm now 40). Once I finished the first novel, I began writing stories and actually finishing them (A Touch of Magic is my 6th full length story I've completed, although it's the first fiction work I've had published with more than 3 people reading it:-)
So that's step one. To publish your story, you need to finish it. (Sounds obvious and easy, but it's not).
Personally I think a story needs a good beginning, middle and ending. It also needs good characters that aren't wholly good or wholly bad. It need's good conflicts or problems that seem almost impossible to solve (and don't cheat the reader by creating a magic potion to solve the problem).
When it comes to the business side of being a writer- My advice is not to lose your love for what you are doing by creating expectations because this is a marathon not a sprint (for most people).
Unfortunately a lot of indie publishing and or online biz resources can be a bit "hypey" and the social proof stories they show to sell their products leave you feeling that those numbers are typical rather than atypical. So I'd suggest investing wisely: cover design, editing, some software to help you write are worthy things to spend your precious dollars on. In my experience a lot of the courses that have cost thousands and promised to save me time and money haven't done either. Assume it's going to take you years for your readership to find you and invest wisely. Otherwise you can find yourself committed to yearly and monthly fees for some things (eg. website plugins and mailing list providers) and if you don't have money coming in then it can add pressure, which is a sure-fire way to kill your love for what you are doing.
If you want more of my advice I've got a video series on my website I call "Writer Chats" where I interview other writers (or just casually chat) about writing, the process, their books and the business side of things.
With the creative side of writing:
For YEARS I had a series of beginnings. I wrote so many stories, but I didn't finish my first full length novel until I was 26 (it was a romance)(I'm now 40). Once I finished the first novel, I began writing stories and actually finishing them (A Touch of Magic is my 6th full length story I've completed, although it's the first fiction work I've had published with more than 3 people reading it:-)
So that's step one. To publish your story, you need to finish it. (Sounds obvious and easy, but it's not).
Personally I think a story needs a good beginning, middle and ending. It also needs good characters that aren't wholly good or wholly bad. It need's good conflicts or problems that seem almost impossible to solve (and don't cheat the reader by creating a magic potion to solve the problem).
When it comes to the business side of being a writer- My advice is not to lose your love for what you are doing by creating expectations because this is a marathon not a sprint (for most people).
Unfortunately a lot of indie publishing and or online biz resources can be a bit "hypey" and the social proof stories they show to sell their products leave you feeling that those numbers are typical rather than atypical. So I'd suggest investing wisely: cover design, editing, some software to help you write are worthy things to spend your precious dollars on. In my experience a lot of the courses that have cost thousands and promised to save me time and money haven't done either. Assume it's going to take you years for your readership to find you and invest wisely. Otherwise you can find yourself committed to yearly and monthly fees for some things (eg. website plugins and mailing list providers) and if you don't have money coming in then it can add pressure, which is a sure-fire way to kill your love for what you are doing.
If you want more of my advice I've got a video series on my website I call "Writer Chats" where I interview other writers (or just casually chat) about writing, the process, their books and the business side of things.
Lisa M. White
I'm currently working on a series I'm calling "Familiar". It's set in my home town of Adelaide, South Australia and it features vampires, shifters, werewolves, witches and a couple of other "mythical" beings:-). It's not a typical urban fantasy or paranormal romance, although it has elements of both. (I'll write a better description soon:-) But in the mean time, I've got some lovely pictures of Adelaide (as seen through my eyes) over on my website:-). Currently, I've completed the first draft of Familiar (book 1), and a novella (book 1.5) and I'll be writing Fairytale (working title)(book 0) in November for NaNoWriMo (or before if I can get my non fiction books finished before then).
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more