Ask the Author: Karla Clark
Answered Questions (6)
Karla Clark
Ahhh. It’s funny, but it’s never been a problem for me because I just don’t view times when I am not writing as being “blocked.” I view it as just not being a good, creative moment...and I try to do something else. I only write when I am moved to write. I am an artist as well as an author, so when I’m not writing I create paper collages that I sell at art shows. As long as I am doing something creative, I never feel stifled. But if I had to face deadlines, I am sure I would confront that terrible phenomenon!
Karla Clark
The best thing about being a writer is that it has helped me to understand human beings better. When you are a writer, you have to keep an open mind about people. You have to try to understand the minds of good people and not-so-good people. Writing is a way to not only express yourself, but also a creative platform to fictionally right some wrongs, change the world, and makes dreams come true. It’s quite a powerful, magical thing!
Karla Clark
Read. Read. Read. Do your homework! Learn as much as you can about your genre. Build your career from the bottom up. Try to get a poem, article, or short story published first. Watch free webinars about publishing. Limit your adjectives and adverbs in your writing by using stronger verbs. Write believable dialogue. Edit. Edit. Edit. I heard Lin-Manuel Miranda say it took him one year to write one song for Hamilton. He challenged himself—if he had a line that was six words, could he reduce it to four? Could he reduce it to two! And if you want to go the traditional route with publishing and get an agent and a big publisher you will have to learn how to write a perfect query letter. That was the secret for me to go from self-publishing to landing an agent—my query letter. It took me months to perfect! It was worth it—my agent has sold five of my children’s books to two of the big five publishers: Penguin and Macmillian. It’s hard work but passion will get you there! My best to you!
Karla Clark
I am working on a new children’s story. I have completed a novel that I hope to submit to my agent before Christmas, and I have started a new novel.
Karla Clark
Inspiration comes on a wing and a prayer. The other day, I was driving and the Beatle’s song Maxwell’s Silver Hammer came on the radio. It sparked an idea resulting in the names of two of the characters in my new novel.
Karla Clark
I am currrently working on a novel that follows two couples, 100 years apart, one navigating the early 1900s and the other in present time. I got the idea from an article I read about a man who found his great-great grandfather and found similarities in their lives.
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