Ask the Author: Philippa Stirling
Answered Questions (6)
Philippa Stirling
The pleasure and satisfaction of taking 'nothing' and making 'something'.
I get an idea. I play with it like clay (or 'Silly Putty', which might be more appropriate) and try to shape it into something I think is fulfilling and believable; something that could or might happen.
Creating that world for that time in that place is like playing God for a time. Not in a sacreligious manner, but in creating people and filling them out so they might exist someplace. It's powerful to arrange the people; to energize them and provide their motives and experiences.
It is a part of 'me' that ends up in the pages of the stories I write. A large part of 'me' because I create those characters. I create their experiences, their appearance, the lives they live and the spaces they occupy.
When it's done, when I have created the best story I can create with the most believable characters that I can draw, it's satisfying in a way nothing else in my life experience has been.
I get an idea. I play with it like clay (or 'Silly Putty', which might be more appropriate) and try to shape it into something I think is fulfilling and believable; something that could or might happen.
Creating that world for that time in that place is like playing God for a time. Not in a sacreligious manner, but in creating people and filling them out so they might exist someplace. It's powerful to arrange the people; to energize them and provide their motives and experiences.
It is a part of 'me' that ends up in the pages of the stories I write. A large part of 'me' because I create those characters. I create their experiences, their appearance, the lives they live and the spaces they occupy.
When it's done, when I have created the best story I can create with the most believable characters that I can draw, it's satisfying in a way nothing else in my life experience has been.
Philippa Stirling
I'm inspired by life and little things.
My book 'Still Life' was literally sparked by a single scene in a television talent show. I saw the place; I wondered about the status of one of the primary participants in the program; I Googled and... BOOM. I got the kernel of a story.
'In A Green & Shady Place' is the 'author' of the book caught in a wrinkle of Fate. I had written the first few drafts of 'Still Life' and began to think about 'what if...' That developed into a new story.
The book on which I'm working now, which I hope to release before Christmas (2018), is about friendship. It was inspired by my interactions with someone with whom I worked, and a building on of my reactions to that person.
My book 'Still Life' was literally sparked by a single scene in a television talent show. I saw the place; I wondered about the status of one of the primary participants in the program; I Googled and... BOOM. I got the kernel of a story.
'In A Green & Shady Place' is the 'author' of the book caught in a wrinkle of Fate. I had written the first few drafts of 'Still Life' and began to think about 'what if...' That developed into a new story.
The book on which I'm working now, which I hope to release before Christmas (2018), is about friendship. It was inspired by my interactions with someone with whom I worked, and a building on of my reactions to that person.
Philippa Stirling
I ignore it. I accept the fact that it's there, that it's keeping me from writing, but I don't fight it which only makes it worse.
Instead, I go and do other things, away from writing. I'm always confident that at some point that lock will break and the door will crack open. Ideas will niggle around the back of my head and will grow.
Also, bear in mind that you are not alone in this.
Sergei Rachmaninoff once received so harsh a criticism of one of his works that he stopped composing for three years.
Above all else, be patient with yourself. Don't feel that you 'have' to write. The harder you push the harder it will be and the less satisfaction you'll get from what you create.
Instead, I go and do other things, away from writing. I'm always confident that at some point that lock will break and the door will crack open. Ideas will niggle around the back of my head and will grow.
Also, bear in mind that you are not alone in this.
Sergei Rachmaninoff once received so harsh a criticism of one of his works that he stopped composing for three years.
Above all else, be patient with yourself. Don't feel that you 'have' to write. The harder you push the harder it will be and the less satisfaction you'll get from what you create.
Philippa Stirling
Take the chance. Trust your instincts and do not write for anyone's satisfaction but your own. Most importantly: be patient with yourself as you learn and build your craft. You didn't learn to walk in a day, and you didn't learn to talk in a day, and writing well is more difficult than those two abilities, combined.
Don't be afraid to share. You can do it anonymously on any number of online websites. But be prepared for criticism.
If you have people you trust, people who know you and who you know are kind and want you to succeed, ask them to read what you've written, and ask them for honest feedback.
My mother HATED one of my first characters, and I learned from her remarks where I'd gone wrong. I fixed it, softened her so she became easier to live with during the course of the story.
Receiving criticism is never, ever fun but it can be invaluable. I once received a critique so harsh, so cruel that I almost gave up writing. I stopped for months because I didn't trust myself and I didn't trust the readers.
When I finally gathered the courage to go back to to re-read what the critic had to say, I realized it wasn't just me or my story; and it wasn't just them. I had missed. I hadn't created a relatable character for that person. I reread my story, trying to see it from their POV and I realized it could be improved.
Don't be afraid to share. You can do it anonymously on any number of online websites. But be prepared for criticism.
If you have people you trust, people who know you and who you know are kind and want you to succeed, ask them to read what you've written, and ask them for honest feedback.
My mother HATED one of my first characters, and I learned from her remarks where I'd gone wrong. I fixed it, softened her so she became easier to live with during the course of the story.
Receiving criticism is never, ever fun but it can be invaluable. I once received a critique so harsh, so cruel that I almost gave up writing. I stopped for months because I didn't trust myself and I didn't trust the readers.
When I finally gathered the courage to go back to to re-read what the critic had to say, I realized it wasn't just me or my story; and it wasn't just them. I had missed. I hadn't created a relatable character for that person. I reread my story, trying to see it from their POV and I realized it could be improved.
Philippa Stirling
Right now I am working on a book about friendship. How do two people, wrapped in their own lives with their own problems create a connection with one another? Things have already come apart for Annie and she's survived. But what about Peter? What happens to him when his life implodes in the unexpected?
Philippa Stirling
Baldly put, my neighbor committed suicide last Friday. We learned of it from another neighbor, and I am struggling with coming to grips with the new paradigm.
What of his wife? What of their son? If I'm struggling with acceptance, what are they thinking and feeling? How will they come to terms with what is, and how will they gather themselves to move on?
There are many questions to which I do not have answers, but it might be worth exploring for my own healing, and as a creative exploration of my own psyche (how would I cope, think, feel, behave, heal?).
What of his wife? What of their son? If I'm struggling with acceptance, what are they thinking and feeling? How will they come to terms with what is, and how will they gather themselves to move on?
There are many questions to which I do not have answers, but it might be worth exploring for my own healing, and as a creative exploration of my own psyche (how would I cope, think, feel, behave, heal?).
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