Ask the Author: Andrew Gruse
Answered Questions (6)
Andrew Gruse
I force myself to write even though it may be junk. I throw away more than I keep but that, to me, is my key to finding what works and what doesn't. Sometimes I write and think it's good but come back two weeks later and realize it was junk. As for the block, sometimes I will write myself into the block and that's when I know I have to start over. I get myself into my characters' head(s) and ask what are they thinking? Or better yet, how can I make their lives worse? Sometimes better. Writing to me is the way out of writer's block. I may take time off and hike or something for inspiration and that sometimes works. Ultimately, it's sitting in front of the keyboard and pounding those keys.
Andrew Gruse
For me, the best thing is the freedom of not having to sit in an office and having people who may or may not be good at what they do be my boss and tell me how to do my job. I worked for a lot of bosses. Some good, some bad. With writing, I'm the only one who can micro-manage what I do. I decide what hours I write. I don't have to fill in weekly reports or call sheets. And I can live in a world of fiction which, let's be honest, is a boatload better than the reality of today. LOL
Andrew Gruse
The same advice that has been given for years. Read. Read. Read. But I also say write and write and write. It's a tough business and considering my lack of success currently, I doubt my advice is worthwhile. Find your voice, write what you want, not what you think the audience wants, and don't chase fads. Vampires come and go. Good writing never dies.
Andrew Gruse
I am currently working on several novels. I have the next three Zack Stack novels all going, the fifth one, BAD BLOOD, is in the final stage now but the next two are well into the works and the eighth book has bits and pieces. I also am working on a separate series (potentially) in a similar vein. My mind almost never stops working on something.
Andrew Gruse
Via music. I listen to music every minute of the day when I write. Most of the time I don't even know what is playing but the music blocks out the background noise, like traffic, birds outside, creaks in the house, and allows me to focus. The inspiration to create and further the stories and lives of my characters comes from my readers relating to me how they want to know what happens next.
Andrew Gruse
It was a conglomeration of ideas, actually, for Smoke Stack. The main gist of the idea arose (for Smoke Stack) from the problems in a school district I live in and one night I got an idea as to how to "solve it." For The Sharpest Cut, believe it or not, the premise for the story came in a dream, albeit not a happy dream. Plus, the continuation of Zack Stack's backstory played a huge part in it.
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