Ask the Author: Paul Braddon
Answered Questions (5)
Paul Braddon
Thought it was Saturday morning. Turned out to be Monday!
Paul Braddon
Sometimes the best way to find a solution to a difficult problem is take yourself away and do something completely different. There's been many a plot crisis I've managed to easily resolve after cutting the lawn.
If it's a question of motivation, give yourself an achievable target, for me 500 words is usually not too scary and it means I keep chipping away.
If your mind is just completely blank, then your creative well is probably exhausted and that is the perfect excuse to spend your time filling it with creative material - favourite films, great books, fantastic TV ...
If it's a question of motivation, give yourself an achievable target, for me 500 words is usually not too scary and it means I keep chipping away.
If your mind is just completely blank, then your creative well is probably exhausted and that is the perfect excuse to spend your time filling it with creative material - favourite films, great books, fantastic TV ...
Paul Braddon
Inventing characters, spending time with them in their world, and when the whim takes you, presenting them with little rewards and punishments to see how they react.
That and when people say lovely things!
That and when people say lovely things!
Paul Braddon
Don't make the mistake I did of thinking that you can write just because you've read a few novels. Seek guidance through how-to-write books, writing courses/workshops and if possible direct feedback. In particular try to learn about story structure and how plot, character and theme interrelate. Do that and your progress will be so much quicker!
Paul Braddon
I like to spend a few minutes with an author/book I admire to get in the right frame of mind. I am currently listening to one of my favourites - Donna Tartt's Secret History - and when I put Donna to one side and start my own work, it is like I can hear her in my head helping me make decisions.
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