Ask the Author: Martin Gallardo
Answered Questions (6)
Martin Gallardo
Assume writing it is not a task, it is a process. And it takes time. If you are blocked, dedicate yourself to editing, preparing for publishing and marketing, getting and implementing feedback, take yourself some days off, travel somewhere exotic, get inspired by art, do things that make you happy, get in shape and drink a glass of red wine.
Martin Gallardo
Peace of mind. There is no frustration. Ever. It is therapy. Being myself. And, of course, sometimes you get a scene that works fantastically, that it is so powerful. You stand up from your chair excited and want to kick something. And no one will ever know. And that´s ok, nobody needs to know. You are just happy, and that it is the best thing of being a writer.
Martin Gallardo
I am an aspiring writer myself :)
My advice, read a lot about routines of the best writers. There are routines that most of them do, like a daily word count target. Follow them.
And for God´s sake, forget about style at the beginning. First, create a story that conveys a powerful message. What do you want to tell? What it is the question? Write 140 characters and test it with family, friends and genre readers. Is this a message they are interested? Outline the story in 3 paragraphs, are they still interested? Outline a 1-pager, are they STILL interested?
About grammar and style, it is so much better to hire a professional editor to help you. I write in Spanish and I pay for a pro-editor in Spanish. Then I pay for an editor/translator in English to work with me in the English version.
My advice, read a lot about routines of the best writers. There are routines that most of them do, like a daily word count target. Follow them.
And for God´s sake, forget about style at the beginning. First, create a story that conveys a powerful message. What do you want to tell? What it is the question? Write 140 characters and test it with family, friends and genre readers. Is this a message they are interested? Outline the story in 3 paragraphs, are they still interested? Outline a 1-pager, are they STILL interested?
About grammar and style, it is so much better to hire a professional editor to help you. I write in Spanish and I pay for a pro-editor in Spanish. Then I pay for an editor/translator in English to work with me in the English version.
Martin Gallardo
This answer contains spoilers…
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Martin Gallardo
There are several phases of inspiration.
I think one phase it is curiosity and knowledge. The mind is a box of experiences and data through life. Creativity it is finding and connecting the pieces in the box, like a puzzle. To be creative, it is first important to fill the box. Travel, push yourself, meet new people, read more books, listen to music, read about art, history, philosophy, science... and listen to other people experiences. Take pictures in your head of everything you see. Let the world flood you.
Before writing, I need to visualize the scene in my head as I am in the cinema. I want the reader to feel at cinema. I usually listen to the same song on repeat for several hours and go for a long walk or walk inside my small apartment in circles. In my head, I am constructing the scene. Sometimes I am acting as one character talking to the other. This process gives me a lot of joy and inspiration.
Then, writing flows quite naturally, the scene it is in my head, completely clear. I go and just run through it, without style, until it is drafted.
I think one phase it is curiosity and knowledge. The mind is a box of experiences and data through life. Creativity it is finding and connecting the pieces in the box, like a puzzle. To be creative, it is first important to fill the box. Travel, push yourself, meet new people, read more books, listen to music, read about art, history, philosophy, science... and listen to other people experiences. Take pictures in your head of everything you see. Let the world flood you.
Before writing, I need to visualize the scene in my head as I am in the cinema. I want the reader to feel at cinema. I usually listen to the same song on repeat for several hours and go for a long walk or walk inside my small apartment in circles. In my head, I am constructing the scene. Sometimes I am acting as one character talking to the other. This process gives me a lot of joy and inspiration.
Then, writing flows quite naturally, the scene it is in my head, completely clear. I go and just run through it, without style, until it is drafted.
Martin Gallardo
I wrote VillaBay first storyline during my last trip to North of Perú in 2016. I was there with one of my best friends. We spent two weeks in a very calm bungalow. I was impressed by the amount of wildlife despite being a very arid climate. I remember spending the sunsets fascinated by the Fragata birds. They would fly insanely fast towards the water and come out few seconds later with a caught. Every day, walking the beach I would meet many different species of birds, including vultures devouring dead sea lions. There were turtles in the port. Suddenly, I got all the characters and the location.
Few weeks before I had found the message already. Ascending Machu Picchu very early morning, taking the thousands of steps towards the entrance, I heard the voices of the "Chasquis", or old Quechua runners. They told me that I was not important, that the message was important. I was decided to write a book and I found the inspiration several weeks later.
Few weeks before I had found the message already. Ascending Machu Picchu very early morning, taking the thousands of steps towards the entrance, I heard the voices of the "Chasquis", or old Quechua runners. They told me that I was not important, that the message was important. I was decided to write a book and I found the inspiration several weeks later.
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