Ask the Author: A.D. Shinn
Answered Questions (7)
A.D. Shinn
The rough carpet prickled at his bare flesh, but he wouldn't have to wait much longer. He had to clamp a hand over his mouth to contain his excitement as he watched her naked ankles cross the room and vanish from sight when she crawled into the bed above.
A.D. Shinn
Write anyway, and in between the writing, reading other people's work tends to shake some additional words out of my head. If you're particularly stuck on a certain part, take a break, read a book. I have taken breaks on certain things for days at a time, just because I couldn't work out what needed to happen. Writing is not a race. But, I have found that writing something that takes place later in the story can be of great help in getting the right words to come out for the parts that I was stuck on.
A.D. Shinn
It is a job that gives you the freedom to do it from anywhere in the world and any time of day, beholden to no one's daily schedule but your own.
A.D. Shinn
Write. Even if no one will ever read what you write, write it anyway. Write it for yourself. Finish something. A finished manuscript will not only be valuable if you decide to edit and publish it, but the act of completing a manuscript is likely to lead you to starting another one.
A.D. Shinn
I'm currently writing several things. I have three in-progress short stories and I am working on my second novel, which I am about a third of the way through writing the first draft. I have set a deadline of mid-October for the completion of the first draft of the novel, as I need some time to prepare for my first-time participation in NaNoWriMo. Outside of those, I am also writing super short flash fiction pieces for fun. They're usually composed of ideas that aren't quite story length or are only intended to be snapshots of events.
A.D. Shinn
My brain never shuts off. I have conversations in my head with imaginary people, sometimes they're arguments, and I try to come up with good responses and snappy comebacks. Sometimes it's simply a matter of looking at the world and asking "What's missing?" then jotting down some notes about what you would do to fill those voids. More than once I've gotten an idea from a misheard phrase or name. The tiniest things can trigger my idea engine and I make notes of them for future exploration. This, perhaps obviously, can lead to some very interesting reading sessions when I come across an idea that is simply one or two words with zero context. And the note is still usable, even if I've forgotten the original inspiration for it.
A.D. Shinn
It started with the idea of a scene in a cafe where two people, one flesh the other plastic, discussed the process of putting your consciousness into a robot body. It grew from that simple premise into a 90,000 word novel full of weirdos and idiots, some human, some not.
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