Ask the Author: Michael Avery
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Michael Avery
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Michael Avery
Sometimes I stop; sometimes I go. It really depends. Sometimes I put on music and let it inspire me. Sometimes I take a week off. I think the main thing is not to give up. Even if it means taking some time off, that's OK. The point is that you become a writer by writing. If you take some time off, you'll get back to it. But sometimes I can kill writer's block by pushing through it. How do I tell the difference? Sometimes that's hard. I might try pushing only to feel that's not working. So I'll switch to time off. It really depends. Remember the AA serenity prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
Michael Avery
One of my most effective ways of getting inspired to write is to read. I try to read a lot. It can be my stuff or someone else's stuff; it doesn't really matter. I find that when I read, ideas trigger in my head for what I might want to say.
Michael Avery
Read. Read a lot. William Burroughs said something like, "I never met a writer who wasn't, at one time or another, an avid reader" ("The Technology of Writing," The Adding Machine). He also says that T.S. Eliot was famous for saying something like if a poet sounds too literary it's because he hasn't read enough.
I can speak from my experience. I didn't start really reading until about age 39. Up to that point, I mostly read what I was assigned from school or work. When I started reading for fun, self-selecting, a world opened up to me. It put my brain in overdrive.
I also started rereading my journals. Then I began noticing themes that come up consistently, as well as bad writing versus good writing. But in order to see it, I had to start reading first.
My advice to aspiring writers is to read and read a lot.
I can speak from my experience. I didn't start really reading until about age 39. Up to that point, I mostly read what I was assigned from school or work. When I started reading for fun, self-selecting, a world opened up to me. It put my brain in overdrive.
I also started rereading my journals. Then I began noticing themes that come up consistently, as well as bad writing versus good writing. But in order to see it, I had to start reading first.
My advice to aspiring writers is to read and read a lot.
Michael Avery
I've talked about this in my blog recently. My most recent project is to type up all of my handwritten journals. I have handwritten journals going all the way back to about 2000. I had many more journals going back to 1990, but I burned those in a fit of mania and off the idea that William S. Burroughs had destroyed his youthful journals as well.
I'm hoping to have all my journals typed up by May 8, 2018. Why May 8th? On May 8th, 2015 I started a three year plan with some creative projects in my life, including writing. I decided then that in 3 years I would have a major accomplishment in writing, and ultimately I decided it would be to type of the journals.
I think it's important to type them up for at least 3 reasons:
1. Because my handwriting is so messy that most people can't read them. I fear that in time, I won't be able to read them either.
2. It is good to reread everything I have written at least once. I often try to read things more than once, but typing them out assures me of at least one time.
3. I hope that by putting them in digital form it will allow me to more easily use the material in creating a publishable work.
I'm hoping to have all my journals typed up by May 8, 2018. Why May 8th? On May 8th, 2015 I started a three year plan with some creative projects in my life, including writing. I decided then that in 3 years I would have a major accomplishment in writing, and ultimately I decided it would be to type of the journals.
I think it's important to type them up for at least 3 reasons:
1. Because my handwriting is so messy that most people can't read them. I fear that in time, I won't be able to read them either.
2. It is good to reread everything I have written at least once. I often try to read things more than once, but typing them out assures me of at least one time.
3. I hope that by putting them in digital form it will allow me to more easily use the material in creating a publishable work.
Michael Avery
The best thing about being a writer is that I get to play with words. One thing you need to know about me: I haven't always been a word man. My father was a math professor and my mother was a school nurse. Although they both read--my mother the most, voraciously even--I got a heavy dose of math from my father. I was pretty good at it too. (It helps when you can ask the teacher questions right in the house). I eventually ended up majoring in English because I fell in love with the words in Emerson's "Self Reliance."
I have been keeping diaries since I was 16, and I estimate that as of now, I've written over a million words. I'm 42. Kerouac bragged the same amount to William S. Burroughs when he was only 22. That gives some perspective to the statement.
But now I love words. I love to read.
The best part of being a writer is getting to play with and then read the words I've written.
I have been keeping diaries since I was 16, and I estimate that as of now, I've written over a million words. I'm 42. Kerouac bragged the same amount to William S. Burroughs when he was only 22. That gives some perspective to the statement.
But now I love words. I love to read.
The best part of being a writer is getting to play with and then read the words I've written.
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