Ask the Author: Eric Dallaire
Answered Questions (5)
Eric Dallaire
A sequel to Shades: The Gehenna Dilemma, and a series of science fiction short stories.
Eric Dallaire
Here's a few tips:
1) Listen to the Writer's Almanac podcast. It's a snack-sized 5 minute part of your day that will inspire you to write. Often the podcast covers the trials and tribulations of famous writers. You get to hear how they struggled, preserved, and kept writing. Then it ends with a great poem read by Garrison Keilor.
2) Read good books. Stay current. Listen to recommendations from friends. Keep an eye on the top 10 of your genre. Read the reviews of the fans. Understand what they like.
3) Write when you're stressed. When you write, you get into a state of concentration that helps distract you from problems of every day life. Focusing on the story, your characters, can help to transport you to the world of your book -- and when you're done, your work may help someone leave their problems behind and enjoy your world.
1) Listen to the Writer's Almanac podcast. It's a snack-sized 5 minute part of your day that will inspire you to write. Often the podcast covers the trials and tribulations of famous writers. You get to hear how they struggled, preserved, and kept writing. Then it ends with a great poem read by Garrison Keilor.
2) Read good books. Stay current. Listen to recommendations from friends. Keep an eye on the top 10 of your genre. Read the reviews of the fans. Understand what they like.
3) Write when you're stressed. When you write, you get into a state of concentration that helps distract you from problems of every day life. Focusing on the story, your characters, can help to transport you to the world of your book -- and when you're done, your work may help someone leave their problems behind and enjoy your world.
Eric Dallaire
I'll pass along the advice I received from David Brin, author of The Postman and Kiln People. Workshop. Get into a writing group, or a small circle of fellow writers, and pass along your work. Keep writing, and keep getting critiques of your work. This is different than hiring an editor. While most editors will focus on the grammatical, other workshopping writers can also offer more technical advice on flow, dialogue, story arc progression. Over time, the hope is that the collective skins of your writing group thicken so that you can be candid with each other about your works. Good luck!
Eric Dallaire
For me, writing is stress-relieving mental yoga. I can let a hard day at work flow away when I'm absorbed in the world I'm crafting. It's cathartic while I'm writing. It's even more satisfying to see reader reactions to the work. For any writer, the hope is that you allow a reader the chance to imagine your world completely, so that they can take a mental vacation from their day and transport their mind into your pages. It's a personal connection the writer forms with their reader, and one of the best things about being a writer.
Eric Dallaire
I write around the block. I'll add a few lines of whitespace with a symbol or reminder that it's unfinished, and jump ahead to another scene. Often I find that another part of my brain works on the problem while I'm fiddling with another scene, or by moving ahead I unblock the previous scene.
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