Ask the Author: Meredith Marple
Answered Questions (7)
Meredith Marple
The fact that it has taken me two months to answer this question might imply that I've been getting the work done, ha-ha. But it's true that keeping an online presence - at least a meaningful one - does take time and an approach that works for both author and reader.
I did read your question at the time, and then I started making some notes about how to answer it. After a few days, I decided the response I was coming up with was, well, BS. Discouraged, I gave up. But Goodreads doesn't let you just give up, not really. So here I am to admit my failing and write a response "off the cuff."
The truth is I don't have an approach that works for me and my readers at this time. I'm also not getting much writing done. So, I'm in a recovery space of some kind. The answer to your question, I believe, is that being a writer is as much about thinking as writing, and online activity needs to be woven into the fabric just as writing on a pad of paper or a sticky note. It needs to be in the mix but not drive the process. Putting yourself out there as a writer needs to come from a deeper part of you than "promotion" in itself. When I write online now, I strive to share in some way that's personal or surprising somehow (if only to me). And then that, I hope, will encourage a feedback loop with some aspect of the work.
Thank you for the question!
I did read your question at the time, and then I started making some notes about how to answer it. After a few days, I decided the response I was coming up with was, well, BS. Discouraged, I gave up. But Goodreads doesn't let you just give up, not really. So here I am to admit my failing and write a response "off the cuff."
The truth is I don't have an approach that works for me and my readers at this time. I'm also not getting much writing done. So, I'm in a recovery space of some kind. The answer to your question, I believe, is that being a writer is as much about thinking as writing, and online activity needs to be woven into the fabric just as writing on a pad of paper or a sticky note. It needs to be in the mix but not drive the process. Putting yourself out there as a writer needs to come from a deeper part of you than "promotion" in itself. When I write online now, I strive to share in some way that's personal or surprising somehow (if only to me). And then that, I hope, will encourage a feedback loop with some aspect of the work.
Thank you for the question!
Meredith Marple
I love this question. It spurs me to think about many books from a different angle than I applied to them while reading. But you know what? My answer still comes down to Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara (Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell). Oh sure, I was in my teens when I first read it, so that may explain some of the why. Analyzing further than that, I can see the crafting that drew me in. The author maintained the suspense of their relationship to the point of almost excruciating anticipation for the reader. Rhett was a perfect combination of bad boy and capable adult with a visceral morality. [Spoiler alert!] By the time Scarlett finally really grew up enough to know what she had in Rhett, she had ruined the relationship forever. For me as a reader, the tension between them all along was exquisite, and lessons about relationships – among all the characters, really – abounded. Author Mitchell set the bar astronomically high, and in my post-GWTW reading so far, no other fictional couple has come close.
Meredith Marple
The mental surprises. They come at any time of day or night. They reawaken the mind or illuminate a path. It’s like a micro amusement ride.
Meredith Marple
I’m sure I’m no different from most writers when I answer “write, write, write” and “read, read, read.” I’ve been surprised by how many aspiring writers I meet who don’t read very much. That blows my mind. I found that reading took on a very different dimension for me when I decided to become a writer. I mean, I always was a reader, but as a writer, I’m learning from other writers’ examples of how to raise emotions and thoughts in readers. If the author is a good writer, I have to remind myself to stop analyzing and enjoy the story or I’ll miss a great time.
Meredith Marple
I’ve begun book 2 in the Great Wharf series (book 1 was The Year Mrs. Cooper Got Out More). I’m also working on some memoir essay pieces. I have the book title for the memoir pieces all picked out, but it’s a secret for now.
Meredith Marple
Sometimes I’m inspired by an emotional reaction to something, whether it made me laugh or feel sad. That’s especially true if it has reminded me of something in my own history. Sometimes I’m inspired by a believe-it-or-not situation in the news—you know, like reading about someone driving off in their car, forgetting their baby’s in a carrier they absentmindedly placed on the roof to free their hands. That’s always a story crying for attention. Not that I’ve written that one.
Meredith Marple
I had a conversation with a friend about fifteen years older than I, in which we decided we both had an agoraphobia gene or something. Each of us experienced the pull of not wanting to leave the house if we didn’t have to. It wasn’t really a phobia for either of us, but we were aware that if left to our own devices, we’d rarely leave the house. I thought it would make for an interesting character, someone who developed agoraphobic behavior after living an otherwise normal life.
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