Ask the Author: Allison Tyra
Answered Questions (6)
Allison Tyra
I seem to have five or six projects in different stages at any one time - currently, that includes publishing Mother Booze; a satirical script that I want to stage; an educational comic book that I'm working with an illustrator on; a thematic travel guide; a collection of new fables and so on. If I'm not writing, I'm probably working on the endless admin side of being an independent writer.
I also created and run a website, CulturalJobs.org, which is an international database of 600+ job banks and thousands of links directly to employment pages, searchable by sector and geography.
I also created and run a website, CulturalJobs.org, which is an international database of 600+ job banks and thousands of links directly to employment pages, searchable by sector and geography.
Allison Tyra
I'm lucky to have weird, creative and supportive people around me. Most people, whether they realise it or not, have ideas that could be turned into writing projects, but I never would have actually done it if it wasn't for my wonderful friends and partner - not just because they encouraged me directly, but because they have the gumption to put themselves out there, and make and do in their own lives. When you see that over and over, it's harder to make excuses for not doing it yourself.
Allison Tyra
Mother Booze is my first book, self-published as an ebook. It started as a joke when I was talking with my partner, with Jack and Jill going up the hill to get something more fun than a pail of water. I wrote it down on my phone, and decided to see how many I could do - it ended up being 53 in total, which I later paired with classic illustrations. I know a lot of performers, so we also recorded the audio narration in a studio with opera singers, musical theatre actors and people like me who should probably never be on stage.
Allison Tyra
Start writing. Even if it's just a half-formed idea, get it down. Even if you can't finish it now, start and come back to it later, if it's good enough (and if it's not, how can you make it better?). Basically everything I do starts out as "wouldn't it be cool/funny/(other fun adjective) if..." It's easy to just let those ideas slide away - but it can be worth it to hang on to them and see where they take you.
Allison Tyra
For me, it's that it's limitless - I can do or create anything via writing, unlike so many other artforms. Given that reality is not nearly so accommodating, it's incredibly empowering, even if the first draft is crap.
Allison Tyra
I currently have five or six projects that I'm working on, or things that I put down and pick back up again later, and they're all very different. It's not the best strategy if you're under deadline to finish a specific project, but I've found it easier to go around one writer's block and work on something else, rather than trying to smash through the block and force myself to write.
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