Ask the Author: Ariana Neumann
Answered Questions (4)
Ariana Neumann
Thank you for the proper spelling, my friend ;-)
I tend to read more fiction than non- but here's a few...
I love anything Joan Didion writes and 'The Year of Magical Thinking" is a favourite I have read many times. Isabel Allende's "Paula" is just stunning and so fraught with love and pain that it made me think twice about becoming a mother. I like the thoughtfulness and honesty in Dani Shapiro's writing and have read both "Hourglass" and 'Inheritance" in one sitting. I really enjoyed "Eat Pray Love" and "The Glass Castle". "Angela's Ashes" is just fabulous.
Of course, I couldn't possibly have written my book without having read Wiesel's "Night", Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning", De Waal's "Hare with Amber Eyes" and Sand's "East West Street". They are all heroes mine.
But answering your question and writing this list makes me realise that I definitely need to read more comedy!!
I tend to read more fiction than non- but here's a few...
I love anything Joan Didion writes and 'The Year of Magical Thinking" is a favourite I have read many times. Isabel Allende's "Paula" is just stunning and so fraught with love and pain that it made me think twice about becoming a mother. I like the thoughtfulness and honesty in Dani Shapiro's writing and have read both "Hourglass" and 'Inheritance" in one sitting. I really enjoyed "Eat Pray Love" and "The Glass Castle". "Angela's Ashes" is just fabulous.
Of course, I couldn't possibly have written my book without having read Wiesel's "Night", Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning", De Waal's "Hare with Amber Eyes" and Sand's "East West Street". They are all heroes mine.
But answering your question and writing this list makes me realise that I definitely need to read more comedy!!
Ariana Neumann
The poet Ted Hughes said that "writing is about trying to take fuller possession of the reality of your life". For me the best thing about writing has been becoming more aware of certain details, patterns, threads and being able to process and weave them into coherent stories. Paradoxically perhaps, as observation requires some distance, writing allows me to immerse myself more fully in life. So for me, that's the best thing, together with being able to choose my working hours, my surroundings and not having to explain to anybody the amount of chocolate I consume at my desk.
Ariana Neumann
When I can, I go out for a walk either in nature or around the streets of the city where I live. I feel the light or the wind or the rain. I listen. I breathe deeply and take in my surroundings. I look around me at the trees, at the animals, at the people, and tell myself stories about what I see. If I can't go for a walk then I read poetry or go through my messy notebooks where I write down words, ideas, sentences, or sketches of situations that have moved me. Then I come back to my desk, usually with a cup of tea in hand, and just write whatever comes into my head. Often, at first, it's just awful gibberish but eventually something comes out that I want to keep. And if it doesn't, I force myself to keep on writing until it does.
Ariana Neumann
I think the first thing to do is to read. Read avidly and widely. Try reading things you wouldn't naturally be drawn to. Read some more. Observe and listen and feel and process. Then write. Write honestly and with passion. Write. Write. Write. Take criticism from others and develop but believe in yourself and don't lose your voice. And keep on writing.
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