Ask the Author: Polly Schattel
Answered Questions (6)
Polly Schattel
Professional writers can't really afford writer's block. You have to produce. So one of my tricks is to outline first (that way you always know where things are going), and if you come to point where you don't know what to do next, a good trick is to take a nap and muse on it. Ben Franklin knew that the twilight sleep--the period just before unconsciousness--is a great time for your unconscious to work its magic. He would fall asleep with a set of keys in his hand, so that when he actually slept, the keys would fall and wake him up, and then he could get back to business. After several sessions of this, you'll know the answer, and be able to keep truckin'.
Polly Schattel
The best thing about being a writer is the fact that you can sit at your desk and dream stuff up, and a year later, it's a book in someone's hands, thinking about the very same ideas. It's almost magic, if you think about it.
Polly Schattel
Ass in chair. Write write write. And read read read. Doing it is the only way to do it. Also, network. Also, know your genre--know the writers who are doing interesting things, know the biggies, and make friends with them if you can.
Polly Schattel
I'm currently working on a YA trilogy, called "The Night of Nights." It's a little bit horror, a little bit fantasy, and a little bit sci-fi.
Polly Schattel
Because I'm too dumb to do anything else?
Polly Schattel
My next book is a psychological thriller called "Shadowdays." It's based upon a screenplay I write that was optioned several times but never actually produced. It felt like a story that never got told, so I finally told it in book form.
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