Ask the Author: Lawrence Dudley
Answered Questions (5)
Lawrence Dudley
A writer can't wait for inspiration. It's your job and you have to treat it that way. A big advantage I had in life was that I actually got to work for a daily newspaper. Many of our greatest writers— like Hemingway— came out of the newspaper business. It's a tremendous experience and sadly, with the frightening decline in the newspaper business, fewer and fewer writers are getting that.
Having a deadline and a defined readership teaches you to quit ruminating or whatever, get your butt in gear and get going.
At the same time, inspiration does matter, it can happen, sometimes unexpectedly, at any moment, and you have to be open to it. But in my experience inspiration tends to be like priming the pump, if you are already working away, that gets the juices flowing and inspiration is more likely to come to you.
Having a deadline and a defined readership teaches you to quit ruminating or whatever, get your butt in gear and get going.
At the same time, inspiration does matter, it can happen, sometimes unexpectedly, at any moment, and you have to be open to it. But in my experience inspiration tends to be like priming the pump, if you are already working away, that gets the juices flowing and inspiration is more likely to come to you.
Lawrence Dudley
I get asked this quite a bit, and I truly believe that what is happening with writer's block is that the subconscious is telling you something is wrong. You have to listen to that, the inner whisper that is the roadblock, and figure out what it is trying to tell you. Is there something wrong with the work? The theme or style? Is the character inauthentic? Or is something else more important?
I have experienced writer's block. Everyone does. Don't let that throw you or get a complex over it that makes it worse. Listening to the inner voice is a skill you have to consciously cultivate. That can be very hard, but it is necessary.
I have experienced writer's block. Everyone does. Don't let that throw you or get a complex over it that makes it worse. Listening to the inner voice is a skill you have to consciously cultivate. That can be very hard, but it is necessary.
Lawrence Dudley
"What’s the best thing about being a writer?" You have a lot of control over your own time.
"What's the worst thing about being a writer?" You have a lot of control over your own time, and that can isolate you.
"What's the worst thing about being a writer?" You have a lot of control over your own time, and that can isolate you.
Lawrence Dudley
You have to learn to live with rejection, because, barring some miracle, you're probably going to get a lot of it. As Napoleon said, you have to believe in your own star.
I used to be a reviewer for a daily newspaper, covering some of the most famous performing arts groups in the world, for instance, the New York City Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra. I had to do my reviews live, that is, to a midnight deadline. That meant I had maybe an hour and a half to write a fourteen inch piece. Writing fast and clean was more important that going deep. Very often reviewers simply do not have the the time to really think things over. That's something important to keep in mind. In this time stressed age people simply miss things that are important, and it happens to all of us.
I used to be a reviewer for a daily newspaper, covering some of the most famous performing arts groups in the world, for instance, the New York City Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra. I had to do my reviews live, that is, to a midnight deadline. That meant I had maybe an hour and a half to write a fourteen inch piece. Writing fast and clean was more important that going deep. Very often reviewers simply do not have the the time to really think things over. That's something important to keep in mind. In this time stressed age people simply miss things that are important, and it happens to all of us.
Lawrence Dudley
Much of my work tends to be inspired by current events, although not always. As Gabriel Garcia Marquez once said, "If you have a really important issue and you believe in it, write a good novel about it."
Of course, those issues can legitimately follow a huge range, from the domestic, in how we live in a quotidian way, or cosmic, the fate of the universe. Whatever it is, as they say in politics, you have to have "fire in the belly."
Of course, those issues can legitimately follow a huge range, from the domestic, in how we live in a quotidian way, or cosmic, the fate of the universe. Whatever it is, as they say in politics, you have to have "fire in the belly."
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