Ask the Author: H.M. Friendly
Answered Questions (8)
H.M. Friendly
My longest period of writer's block was rooted in a deep fear of receiving objective confirmation that I sucked. I could see the distance between my skill level currently, and where I wanted to be, and it seemed insurmountable. So I couldn't write. I couldn't even read. I couldn't even read about writing. My anxiety was wasting my life away.
I eventually worked out that I needed to focus less on my career, and more on just writing what I thought was fun. A consistent quality of successful creative people is the fact that, for the most part, they do what they love and opportunities arise because of their passion.
I had to be unafraid of writing shitty stuff, because in the end, having fun writing drivel is more productive than writing nothing because you're paralyzed with anxiety at your lack of absolute perfection.
So I went on a road trip where my plan was to roam around Vancouver Island reading and writing somewhere away from myself. Turns out my awesome vacation turned hellish when my car experienced catastrophic engine failure on a highway with no cell service, and I spent the next week stranded in two different cities with only the clothes on my back and my laptop, only to eventually learn my car was irrepairable. Had to take the bus back. It was a shitty time, but it was a strange exercise in letting go of the tight control over my life.
In the long periods of waiting, I wrote a pretty good story... but not a perfect one, and that's okay. ;)
I eventually worked out that I needed to focus less on my career, and more on just writing what I thought was fun. A consistent quality of successful creative people is the fact that, for the most part, they do what they love and opportunities arise because of their passion.
I had to be unafraid of writing shitty stuff, because in the end, having fun writing drivel is more productive than writing nothing because you're paralyzed with anxiety at your lack of absolute perfection.
So I went on a road trip where my plan was to roam around Vancouver Island reading and writing somewhere away from myself. Turns out my awesome vacation turned hellish when my car experienced catastrophic engine failure on a highway with no cell service, and I spent the next week stranded in two different cities with only the clothes on my back and my laptop, only to eventually learn my car was irrepairable. Had to take the bus back. It was a shitty time, but it was a strange exercise in letting go of the tight control over my life.
In the long periods of waiting, I wrote a pretty good story... but not a perfect one, and that's okay. ;)
H.M. Friendly
Watching my craftmanship gradually improve. I look back at older stories I've written and I think, "Ugh, that's such bad writing!" This is good, because it means I've transcended myself. I hope to always be able to look back at old stories and see ways in which they're worse than I used to think they were.
H.M. Friendly
Join a critique community like critiquecircle.com. Critiquing other people's stories allows you to look at other works in an analytical manner, which will in turn help you to view your own stories more objectively. It's also a great way to connect with other writers and get feedback on your own stories that maybe nobody would ever read otherwise. :)
H.M. Friendly
Succeeding at life. ;)
H.M. Friendly
I usually get about halfway through a really good story before becoming irresistably compelled to write.
H.M. Friendly
For the RePurposables series, I was travelling up a long escalator, and I thought, what if there was a postapocalyptic society where its expendable citizens are transported by an de-escalating trolly track, dumping them into a massive mulching pit which is then used as fertilizer to grow the food that will feed the rest of the productive citizens in an enclosed city sealed off from a scorching, irradiated desert?
H.M. Friendly
I spent seven years in university. I burned out with five courses to go and didn't finish, so, officially, I'm completely unqualified.
H.M. Friendly
Just got "Exhalation: stories" by Ted Chiang. His only other book is "Stories of Your Life and others" which is the best science fiction I've probably ever read, so I'm looking forward to this new one. :)
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more