Ask the Author: HN Deeb
Answered Questions (6)
HN Deeb
On a daily basis, it's my job, so I have to get up and do it like everyone else does their jobs! In a way, that makes it easier. But if I need inspiration, a good walk and talk with my partner is the best for me. I like to write alone, but I like to think with someone else. As for the long term, I have so many boxes and folders and drawers stuffed with fragments of thoughts and half-baked ideas that hopefully I'll never run out of basic inspiration haha.
HN Deeb
I grew up visiting my grandparents' village, where people talk obsessively about water scarcity. When I moved to California, I learned how big of an issue it is here, too. Once I started looking, I saw water issues at the heart of so much politics, water, economics, health, etc.
And I couldn't stop thinking about how we'll all feel the impact soon, especially young people, who are going to live through whatever happens with the climate emergency. The world of Watershed is one they could live to know. And they are leading the way in tackling the climate crisis - which is really a humanity crisis - just like Cassie, the main character who's 16, is trying to tackle an emergency in that future day.
And I couldn't stop thinking about how we'll all feel the impact soon, especially young people, who are going to live through whatever happens with the climate emergency. The world of Watershed is one they could live to know. And they are leading the way in tackling the climate crisis - which is really a humanity crisis - just like Cassie, the main character who's 16, is trying to tackle an emergency in that future day.
HN Deeb
My job is to imagine worlds - I can go anywhere and do anything! There are always boundaries once you start focusing, of course, but there are also always endless possibilities.
HN Deeb
I'm a TV writer, so I'm currently in the writers' room for How To Get Away With Murder on ABC. Other than that, I'm letting all my thoughts about the sequel to Watershed sift through my mind and start shaping the narrative they want to tell.
HN Deeb
Everyone says this but it's true: write. Ideas in your head are awesome, and often the best part - nothing will ever beat the ideas swirling around your mind with infinite possibility - but writing is _writing_. A word, phrase, sentence, doodle, just get it down, and then get the next thing down. And don't hold yourself too an impossible standard. A single great thought that took you all day but is _written down_ is gold.
HN Deeb
It's so easy to spiral with writer's block. My instinct is to dig in, which just means digging the hole deeper. So I try to get out of my own head and step away. The best ways for me are to find someone I trust to be a sounding board for ideas or to get some physical exercise/fresh air. It's amazing what making yourself let go will do for creativity.
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