Ask the Author: Cora Foerstner
Answered Questions (7)
Cora Foerstner
As you can tell, I haven't been here for a while. Sorry that the answer is so long in coming. A couple of days ago I started a blog series about my l soon to be released book REVENGE, which has the same characters and is in the same world as JUSTICE and FORTINBRAS. I think the best way to answer the question is to send you to that post: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
Cora Foerstner
I get ideas from all kinds of sources. News, gossip, comments people make, articles I've read, discussions I have.
What makes the idea stick and turn into something I want to write about is usually a character or characters that I can imagine in the world I'm thinking about. Also, I play with the ideas and the world for a long time because the story has to be something I'm willing to spends months or maybe years thinking about and writing about.
I know this is a question readers are interested in and ask all the time. My guess is that writers have played with ideas, stories, and characters all their lives.
As a child, I daydreamed in class, imagining stories or making other stories better. Even when I was a teenager and other girls daydreamed about boys, I would get lost in stories and adventures. My junior year in high school, I had ongoing stories about a teenage girl, me of course. When a class got boring, I'd pick up the story where I left off. She was so awesome that the president called on her to take care of tricky international jobs. She could speak eight languages, knew karate, and had the intuition of a career diplomate. That was my thriller year: a teenage female James Bond.
Most of my stories centered around an awesome girl or woman. My brother and I used to have discussions about the weak, silly women in books, on TV, and in films. Like all other girls, I wanted to see a strong female who knew how to take charge. I loved it that my brother also wanted to see a woman of action.
This desire is probably why I love Buffy and Joss Whedon. A few in the entertainment world get it; the rest need to catchup to Whedon. "Wonder Woman" is doing an excellent job, as are many new TV programs that feature strong women and the men who aren't intimidated by them. (The 100, Kill Joys, Dark Matter, Jessica Jones, etc.)
What makes the idea stick and turn into something I want to write about is usually a character or characters that I can imagine in the world I'm thinking about. Also, I play with the ideas and the world for a long time because the story has to be something I'm willing to spends months or maybe years thinking about and writing about.
I know this is a question readers are interested in and ask all the time. My guess is that writers have played with ideas, stories, and characters all their lives.
As a child, I daydreamed in class, imagining stories or making other stories better. Even when I was a teenager and other girls daydreamed about boys, I would get lost in stories and adventures. My junior year in high school, I had ongoing stories about a teenage girl, me of course. When a class got boring, I'd pick up the story where I left off. She was so awesome that the president called on her to take care of tricky international jobs. She could speak eight languages, knew karate, and had the intuition of a career diplomate. That was my thriller year: a teenage female James Bond.
Most of my stories centered around an awesome girl or woman. My brother and I used to have discussions about the weak, silly women in books, on TV, and in films. Like all other girls, I wanted to see a strong female who knew how to take charge. I loved it that my brother also wanted to see a woman of action.
This desire is probably why I love Buffy and Joss Whedon. A few in the entertainment world get it; the rest need to catchup to Whedon. "Wonder Woman" is doing an excellent job, as are many new TV programs that feature strong women and the men who aren't intimidated by them. (The 100, Kill Joys, Dark Matter, Jessica Jones, etc.)
Cora Foerstner
Keep writing. Keep writing. Keep writing.
Also spend some time, even if its an hour, each week working on your craft. Read books by people who have been there, done that, and know their craft. Choose Stephen King, Donald Maass, James Scott Bell, Ursula K. LeGuin, Anne Lamott, and other veteran writers over someone you've never heard of. They they walked the road and will point you in the right direction. If this is your first foray into the writing craft, start with Stephen King's "On Writing"--it will make you laugh, inspire you, and point you in the right direction.
Also spend some time, even if its an hour, each week working on your craft. Read books by people who have been there, done that, and know their craft. Choose Stephen King, Donald Maass, James Scott Bell, Ursula K. LeGuin, Anne Lamott, and other veteran writers over someone you've never heard of. They they walked the road and will point you in the right direction. If this is your first foray into the writing craft, start with Stephen King's "On Writing"--it will make you laugh, inspire you, and point you in the right direction.
Cora Foerstner
I'm writing a Fortinbras novel. This story picks up where my "Fortinbras" novella left off.
I'm also doing a final edit on my YA fantasy novel "Dragon Speakers" getting it ready for publication.
I'm also doing a final edit on my YA fantasy novel "Dragon Speakers" getting it ready for publication.
Cora Foerstner
I've always had a zillion stories in my mind. As a kid, I used to tell my stories to anyone who would listen. When you get older, that gets a little harder, especially when you're a teenager. I was already a little eccentric; I didn't want to be weird.
So the best thing about being a writer is being able to tell my stories. Now, I hope people will read them and like them enough to read more.
So the best thing about being a writer is being able to tell my stories. Now, I hope people will read them and like them enough to read more.
Cora Foerstner
I don't get writer's block often because I plan out my stories scene by scene before I start writing.
What happens more often is I get stuck on a scene and how it should play out. Maybe it was clear when I was planning, but when I start writing. It just doesn't come together. I write. Hate what I've written. Delete. Write again. Eventually, I stop that nonsense. I take a break.
I go into another room. Close my eyes and imagine the scene playing out in my mind. Then I replay it, and throw in as many roadblocks as I can. Then I imagine it happening a different way. Or I replay it with all the characters fighting. While the characters fight, they usually spill their guts, and I find out what's really going on inside. What's going on inside always influences action.
I know this sounds strange, but this usually leads to an "aha" moment for me. I get back to my computer and write.
I sometimes discover that there's a character in the scene that I don't know well enough. If that's the case, I'll go back to their character profile and do some more writing about their past, their wants and desires, their secrets, the fears and anxieties. This always helps.
What happens more often is I get stuck on a scene and how it should play out. Maybe it was clear when I was planning, but when I start writing. It just doesn't come together. I write. Hate what I've written. Delete. Write again. Eventually, I stop that nonsense. I take a break.
I go into another room. Close my eyes and imagine the scene playing out in my mind. Then I replay it, and throw in as many roadblocks as I can. Then I imagine it happening a different way. Or I replay it with all the characters fighting. While the characters fight, they usually spill their guts, and I find out what's really going on inside. What's going on inside always influences action.
I know this sounds strange, but this usually leads to an "aha" moment for me. I get back to my computer and write.
I sometimes discover that there's a character in the scene that I don't know well enough. If that's the case, I'll go back to their character profile and do some more writing about their past, their wants and desires, their secrets, the fears and anxieties. This always helps.
Cora Foerstner
What I think I can read and what I actually read are two very different things. I'm rather like a kid filling her plate at a buffet; my eyes are bigger than my appetite.
Recently finished Neil Gaiman's "Norse Mythology" and am currently reading John Scalzi's "The Collapsing Empire."
Here are a few books on my list: "The Reawakened", "Dragon Haven", "The Fifth Season", "11.22.63" (I've had this one for ages and keep getting sidetracked), "Ancillary Sword" (behind on this series too). Plus, I have a slew of mystery/crime novels waiting to be cracked.
Recently finished Neil Gaiman's "Norse Mythology" and am currently reading John Scalzi's "The Collapsing Empire."
Here are a few books on my list: "The Reawakened", "Dragon Haven", "The Fifth Season", "11.22.63" (I've had this one for ages and keep getting sidetracked), "Ancillary Sword" (behind on this series too). Plus, I have a slew of mystery/crime novels waiting to be cracked.
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