Ask the Author: Remzi Gökdağ

“Ask me a question.” Remzi Gökdağ

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Remzi Gökdağ

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How do you get inspired to write?

Remzi Gökdağ W Somerset Maugham said, “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” That's true. There is only one way. Go into yourself. A writer is not someone who thinks obsessively about writing, or talks about it, or plans it, or dissects it, or even reveres it. Research is the bedrock of nearly all good writing, even poetry. We have to know the world beyond our own known world. We have to be able to make a leap into a life or a time or a geography that is not immediately ours.

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What are you currently working on?

Remzi Gökdağ

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What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Remzi Gökdağ

This answer contains spoilers… (view spoiler)[Never stop believing in yourself!
No one else will believe in you like YOU.
No one else will love your words as much as you will.
No one else will see and understand where you are going with your story, than you.
If you believe in yourself first, others will too.

Now, onto the tips:
* Keep a journal - whether it’s pen and paper or online. Write every day in there, share your thoughts, your feelings and secrets. Be honest with yourself - no matter how ugly that honesty may be. Those raw emotions will help you later on when you’re writing.
* Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Trust me - we all make them. Over and over and over again. Make the mistakes and learn from them.
* Ask for help. Don’t be afraid to approach other authors you know and ask for their advice.
* Find a writing group of like minded peers and meet with them as often as you can - even if it’s just online.
* Don’t be scared to share your words. They are awesome. You are awesome. You have a story inside of you that is amazing and it’s probably not as bad as you think it is.
* Learn how to write. No one starts knowing all the rules. Browse writing blogs, follow your favorite authors, read books on how to write. Learning your craft is the most important thing you can do, other than to keep writing.
* Your first draft always sucks. ALWAYS. The true magic happens during revisions...trust me.
* Don’t edit while you write - just write. Let that story pour out of you, get it down while you can. Once you’re done, then go back and edit it. Rewrite sentences, find better words to use, dig deeper into those emotions. Don’t be afraid of the revision process.
* ‘Said’ is okay to use as a dialogue tag. They don’t need to say things angrily or excitedly or any of those other flowery words your teachers tell you to use. SHOW the emotion behind the words - you can show the character is angry without telling me they said it angrily. Did their fist clench? They did punch the wall? Show me.
* Believe in yourself, in your words, in your emotions. I know, I said this already but it’s the one thing I regret more than anything when I had that passion and desire to write when I was young. I didn’tbelieve I could, that my words were enough, that I was enough. (hide spoiler)]

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What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Remzi Gökdağ

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How do you deal with writer’s block?

Remzi Gökdağ Writer's block could be a sign that your ideas need time to gestate. Idleness can be a key part of the creative process. Give yourself time to gather new experiences and new ideas, from life, reading, or other forms of art, before you start again.

As much as it may remind you of your high school writing class, writing exercises can loosen up the mind and get you to write things you would never write otherwise. If nothing else, they get words on the page, and if you do enough of that, some of it is bound to be good.

The writing that feels most like play will end up delighting you the most, and this is the writing your readers will instinctively connect with. At the end of the day, writing is too hard to do it for anything other than love. If you continue to touch base with the joy you first felt in writing, it will sustain you, not only through your current block but through whatever the future holds.

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