Ask the Author: J.M. Phillippe
Answered Questions (6)
J.M. Phillippe
Creating a world and characters and then getting to introduce them to other people. Actually, the best part is when other people WANT to spend time in your world and with your characters. It's almost like the story isn't really done until it has been interpreted by someone else's imagination. I just want to find space in other people's heads. Wait...that doesn't sound right. But also...it totally does.
J.M. Phillippe
Don't set out to write the perfect book. Set out to write a very badly done first draft, and then revise, revise, revise! The point is to get something completed first before figuring out if it is any good or not (and it will always be better than you thought it would be, if never as good as you pictured it in your head). Don't let "perfect" get in the way of "good enough."
J.M. Phillippe
Focus on something else -- I go back to outlining, or write one of those character development exercises (like take your character to the grocery store) which will never end up in the actual story. But it's a good way to get back into the act of writing when you feel stuck.
J.M. Phillippe
I am currently working on a, well, zombie-ish story, about a woman who is attacked -- and doesn't get away. It is very different than Perfect Likeness and I am really enjoying digging into the horror/action aspects of it.
J.M. Phillippe
I think it is a struggle sometimes to get inspired to write. Not to tell a story -- I always want to tell stories -- but to actually sit down and do the work of writing. There are good days, and bad days, and in the end it is the encouragement of a very dear support network that keeps me going. There is also this magical feeling of "flow" that happens sometimes where the work part of writing falls away and all that is left is you and the story and the words just come. That doesn't happen that often, but the times it does makes all the other times of staring in frustration at the screen totally worth it.
J.M. Phillippe
My most recent release, Perfect Likeness, was an idea I had almost ten years ago after getting out of the bath...once you read it you'll know why. But the thought I had then was "what if I looked in the mirror and the perfect version of myself was staring back at me?"
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