Ask the Author: Victoria Masterson
Answered Questions (2)
Victoria Masterson
When I first started writing my debut book, Left of the Left Bank, I was taking a writing class during which the instructor advised us to write what we know. That made a lot of sense to me. So, I took different occurrences from my life--from travel experiences to my professional background to several personal episodes (along with the aftermath of these)--and elaborated on them. I found I could speak through my characters (also taken from real life relationships) in a knowledgeable way. It is important to do this as an elaboration that becomes fiction and not a verbatim account of an experience, incident, or a person's character.
Victoria Masterson
My writing is character-driven, so in case of writer's block, I start writing a dialogue between two major characters that is necessary to the plot, and that I want to include somewhere in the book. It doesn't have to be in sequential order.
This usually clears away the cobwebs because my main characters have lives of their own, and generally dictate to me what they want to say, as well as where the story will go.
This usually clears away the cobwebs because my main characters have lives of their own, and generally dictate to me what they want to say, as well as where the story will go.
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