Ask the Author: Elisheba Haqq
Answered Questions (6)
Elisheba Haqq
Mamaji is a memoir and I wrote very honestly about the memories of my past life growing up without a mother. I had a hard time writing it---it wasn't easy, to be honest, and thus there were many rewrites because there were parts I tried to gloss over and not tackle honestly.
Elisheba Haqq
I initially was inspired to write when I was very young---I have my journals from when I was about 10 until after marriage. My initial inspiration to write came from Harriet of Harriet the Spy. I loved her and I even copied her style of writing in my very early journals. She was my writing hero for much of my younger life.
Now, I am inspired by a passing joke, a story that someone tells me, an incident that I observe, a past memory, or even a painful friendship. I am very inspired when I visit another country--for some reason, I feel so free and the words flow so well when I am away from my everyday surroundings.
Now, I am inspired by a passing joke, a story that someone tells me, an incident that I observe, a past memory, or even a painful friendship. I am very inspired when I visit another country--for some reason, I feel so free and the words flow so well when I am away from my everyday surroundings.
Elisheba Haqq
I have finished the entire first draft of my next book (I don't have a title yet) I have writer's block when it comes to titles!
It's a story that is partially autobiographical but it is a novel and not a memoir. It's the story of a friendship between two girls who are in many ways very similar --they are both Indian and yet very different ---one is a strict Muslim and one is a Christian girl. They have a very close, fast sisterhood friendship but it is tested and challenged when one of the girls moves to East Africa to be married.
It's a story that is partially autobiographical but it is a novel and not a memoir. It's the story of a friendship between two girls who are in many ways very similar --they are both Indian and yet very different ---one is a strict Muslim and one is a Christian girl. They have a very close, fast sisterhood friendship but it is tested and challenged when one of the girls moves to East Africa to be married.
Elisheba Haqq
I don't know if I would call this advice, but only what I have learned--and I know now that many people are afraid of honest critique and getting their work cut and being forced to re-write again and again. It's scary to put yourself out to the world so openly and then for people to tell you what you wrote is no good. But that's part of the process of improving.
I would also say that I learned to persevere and not give up and NOT to take the easy way out. The process of writing is like any other art---You have to practice and practice and practice before you are able to create something that is close to being "finished". (Oh, it's never finished! I lay awake thinking of all the things I wish I could take out and put back into my memior, Mamaji)
I also learned to write my story and to know that there are times that I have to say, "I know that not everyone liked this part, but I really want to keep it in." I learned to pick my writing battles.
I would also say that I learned to persevere and not give up and NOT to take the easy way out. The process of writing is like any other art---You have to practice and practice and practice before you are able to create something that is close to being "finished". (Oh, it's never finished! I lay awake thinking of all the things I wish I could take out and put back into my memior, Mamaji)
I also learned to write my story and to know that there are times that I have to say, "I know that not everyone liked this part, but I really want to keep it in." I learned to pick my writing battles.
Elisheba Haqq
I am so excited to answer this question! I LOVE to hear people tell me that they read something I wrote and that they were moved by it--or that they viewed something differently as a result of what I wrote. It's the reason I write---it is the most amazing feeling in the world when you know that what you wrote and spent so much time getting right--actually connected with someone and that it changed them in some profound way.
Elisheba Haqq
This is a great question and I think the way I experience writer's block is that I am unable to construct or edit the story so it flows. I don't have writer's block in the traditional sense---which is the inability to find an idea or something to write about. But I just have the worst time stepping away from a story and seeing how I can edit it or rearrange parts to make it read as a well-flowing story.
So the way I deal with it is to get someone else that I trust to read my work and ask them to be very critical about HOW the story is told. I have also hired a professional editor to reconstruct my work and that also is very helpful. I also re-write many, many times. My current book Mamaji, is one that took me 6 years to edit. I wrote the first draft in 1.5 months and then I got writer's block when it came to the actual construction of the book. 6 years later---I finished it.
So the way I deal with it is to get someone else that I trust to read my work and ask them to be very critical about HOW the story is told. I have also hired a professional editor to reconstruct my work and that also is very helpful. I also re-write many, many times. My current book Mamaji, is one that took me 6 years to edit. I wrote the first draft in 1.5 months and then I got writer's block when it came to the actual construction of the book. 6 years later---I finished it.
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