Ask the Author: Ida Smith
Answered Questions (5)
Ida Smith
After finishing my first Jagged Journey's Novella "The Invisible Cipher" an action-adventure story, I was left with the question: "What happens next?" And knowing Neil Gatlin's propensity for getting into trouble and all the enemies he'd made, I knew life just wasn't going to start going smoothly for him. So, I had to follow him around and see what kind of trouble the boy could get into. Sure enough, he got himself in more trouble and every attempt on his part to get out only dug him in deeper until he was trying to "Decipher Invisibility."
Ida Smith
Getting to be creative. I love writing stories. There are times I'm typing along and "bam" something happens with my character(s) that I didn't see coming and I'm exuberant or in tears. Either way, it's a fun adventure. No two days are the same. Thank God!
Ida Smith
I'd have to say my favorite fictional couple are Ricky Blaine and Ilsa Laszlo from the classic movie, "Casablanca." Their love story is fraught with trouble, heartbreaks, and misunderstandings. While Ricky nurses his broken heart from Ilsa's failure to flee Paris with him, she lives with the conflict that she's cheated on her husband whom she thought was dead. When they meet again in Casablanca old feelings of love and betrayal create a war zone that prevents them from speaking and hearing the truth. In the end, Ricky places Ilsa's marriage and the war effort ahead of his personal desires--Not an easy choice but Ricky comes to grips with the reasons Ilsa stood him up and moves on to be a better man.
Ida Smith
Currently I'm working on a series of short stories for my e-zine, Jagged Journeys. This particular story, "Keeping Tradition--Napier's Dare" is set in India during British rule. My main character, Gita is in love with an industrious young man named Basu. But Gita has caught the attention of the aging local ruler. Gita finds herself caught between duty and love, wealth and poverty, power and freedom, and life and death.
To receive free short stories sign up on my webpage: http://IdaSmithBooks.com
To receive free short stories sign up on my webpage: http://IdaSmithBooks.com
Ida Smith
For me, writer's block is not so much not having anything to write about, but rather, having too many ideas, or having too high an expectation of what I want to write so that I dismiss all ideas as not good enough. To combat this, I try to lower my expectations--that first draft is usually awful anyway. If I find I have multiple ideas competing for attention I'll often write a summary of each idea so I don't "lose them" and then can select which one I want to work on.
I've found that writer's block usually occurs when I've taken time off writing, such as for a vacation. To avoid this problem, I try to start a project before I leave for vacation or before the holidays. Then, when I come back to work it's waiting there for me and I can pick up where I left off. I actually heard of one writer who stops everyday mid-sentence. I can't bring myself to do that. At least not on purpose.
I've found that writer's block usually occurs when I've taken time off writing, such as for a vacation. To avoid this problem, I try to start a project before I leave for vacation or before the holidays. Then, when I come back to work it's waiting there for me and I can pick up where I left off. I actually heard of one writer who stops everyday mid-sentence. I can't bring myself to do that. At least not on purpose.
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