Ask the Author: Bob Strating
Answered Questions (3)
Bob Strating
Finding new, more creative or unique ways of saying things. Sometimes surprising yourself with what shows up on your paper or screen.
Bob Strating
I have no secrets about dealing with writer's block. I simply stop writing and file away all my unfinished work. Sometimes inspiration comes back and i finish old works. Sometimes they just sit waiting forever. Inspiration, for me, is something that comes and goes. It's not a skill, it's something that descends on me unexpectedly.
Bob Strating
When i was in high school or college about 50 years ago, i wrote a little poem that was a character study of a strange old man who was a small town eccentric. A man who never spoke. A man who religiously fed a flock of pigeons in the town park. A man who wore a huge overcoat no matter what the weather, and he made a rustling sound when he walked. The poem never went anywhere. It never did have an ending, but i liked the character so much i also never threw the original writing away.
Fast forward about 40 years. Life had gone on. I was married, had raised a daughter, worked a series of blue collar jobs, and had been through good times and bad times. It was during one of those bad times, i retreated to our large clawfoot bathtub to try to relax and let our troubles float away. As i lay there, for some reason i began thinking about that poem from ages ago and Mad Jack's whole story unfolded itself to me. I got the idea that Jack was a writer. The words he never spoke were all scribbled on paper and stuffed in his overcoat. I would use my own old poetry from different stages in my life as Mad Jack's writing that would punctuate and enhance his story. i could also use my wife's photography in the same way. I knew why Jack had stopped talking. I knew why he lived in this small town. All i had to do is write it all down and compile it. It took a few years to finish it up and what you have here is the whole story of Mad Jack.
Fast forward about 40 years. Life had gone on. I was married, had raised a daughter, worked a series of blue collar jobs, and had been through good times and bad times. It was during one of those bad times, i retreated to our large clawfoot bathtub to try to relax and let our troubles float away. As i lay there, for some reason i began thinking about that poem from ages ago and Mad Jack's whole story unfolded itself to me. I got the idea that Jack was a writer. The words he never spoke were all scribbled on paper and stuffed in his overcoat. I would use my own old poetry from different stages in my life as Mad Jack's writing that would punctuate and enhance his story. i could also use my wife's photography in the same way. I knew why Jack had stopped talking. I knew why he lived in this small town. All i had to do is write it all down and compile it. It took a few years to finish it up and what you have here is the whole story of Mad Jack.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more