Ask the Author: Ken Snyder
Answered Questions (7)
Ken Snyder
I used to write essays for an organization headed by a good friend. They were somewhat popular. This was 25 to 30 years ago and I kept hard copies of them (pre-internet, obviously). I dug them out and starting writing FROM them. That is, the old essays were "starters" for something new. It has been the most fun I've had as a writer because the old essays would launch me into a new piece, but I had no idea where it was taking me.
Ken Snyder
I am a freelance magazine writer covering Thoroughbred horse racing. As well, I do some travel writing. Curiosity is what inspires me in this writing arena. An example: I live in an area battling flying carp in the lakes where I live. We have a four-star restaurant in our area owned by a chef who is nationally and even internationally known. She serves carp on her menu. What is supposed to be an inedible, oily, and awful-tasting fish was like eating a very firm and extremely good piece of swordfish. Is she selective about the individual carp she gets from the millions (literally) that fishermen pull from the lakes around here? What's involved in any pre-preparation of the fish (soaking in buttermilk, etc.)? Is the pairing with various beans in a soup and thin-sliced country ham impart the flavor into the carp? Answers to these questions make a magazine story.
Ken Snyder
I am working on a collection of somewhat brief (1,000 words) essays tentatively entitled: Encounters with God on the Mountaintop, Halfway up the Mountain, and from Behind the Golden Calf.
Ken Snyder
Simple: read. I've always said anybody who has read as much as I have ought to be able to write. I think reading feeds the "writing engine" whether we realize it or not.
Ken Snyder
The intensity required is something I welcome. I'm slipshod in most things, but writing demands absolute focus, energy, and desire. That's so far removed from how I am outside of writing, I both marvel at it and revel in it.
Ken Snyder
I've never had it, thankfully.
I think a key to avoiding it is to review notes, an outline--anything connected to what I'm going to write--and put a break between the review and sitting down to write. I firmly believe the sub-conscious goes to work and streams into the conscious when I do write.
I think a key to avoiding it is to review notes, an outline--anything connected to what I'm going to write--and put a break between the review and sitting down to write. I firmly believe the sub-conscious goes to work and streams into the conscious when I do write.
Ken Snyder
Red Notice by Bill Browder
Manson by Jeff Guinn
The Road to Jonestone by Jeff Guinn
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
The Potato Masher Murder by Gary Sosniecki
Manson by Jeff Guinn
The Road to Jonestone by Jeff Guinn
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
The Potato Masher Murder by Gary Sosniecki
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