Ask the Author: Aida Edemariam
Answered Questions (4)
Aida Edemariam
I have published only non-fiction, and one of the best things about doing that is the finding out — to train yourself to listen, and to look; the privilege of people talking to you, thinking aloud with you, feeling safe enough to confide in you. Traveling, sometimes, and finding words for what you see. That process of finding, above all - which is hard, and almost always frustrating (what ends up on the page is never anywhere near as good as the ideal in your head), but holds out a rather humbling promise of maybe, someday, saying something worthwhile.
Aida Edemariam
Read. Look, and look again. Read — anything and everything, but with an eye on quality and especially with an eye on how quality is achieved (inspiration and talent can't be learned but an awful lot else can be). Look. Read some more.
Aida Edemariam
Writing, in my experience, is a funny thing — anything that feels like decent inspiration comes in the act of writing, rather than out of a vacuum. Also from asking questions, looking at the world, reading — in response to things outside myself, in other words.
Aida Edemariam
I feel, in some ways, as though I've always had it — or, at least, that it first appeared about twenty years ago as a proper idea, probably when listening to my grandmother, which I loved to do. I wasn't remotely qualified to write it at that point, however, so it just sat there quietly at the back of my mind until finally I was.
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