Ask the Author: Susan J. Bocock
Answered Questions (2)
Susan J. Bocock
WRITE! Pour out what you are are thinking, what you want to say. Don't worry about anything except getting it on the page. At least to start. For me it's an iterative process. I need to write, then reflect, then see how the elements of the story start to come together. At that point I try and get my thoughts organized into a more cohesive framework. And all the while I am searching for aspects of the story I want to tell that support the theme. Maybe you start with a theme, or maybe, like me, that didn't come until later in the process. But once you are clear on the theme, it will be a lot easier to write around that.
Susan J. Bocock
ITALY THROUGH THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR was definitely a labour of love. The more I travelled through Italy, the more I fell in love with everything about it. This is certainly not an uncommon occurrence. Of course there are aspects of this somewhat chaotic country that can drive anyone crazy, but I'm not sure I've met anyone who hasn't enjoyed their experience.
I had blogged about my travels for a number of years, and decided that I wanted to capture the full experience in one place. However it wasn't until I was reading a book by Brene' Brown that I began to fully understand the grasp that Italy had on me. As I write in the preface of my book:
"Then one day I picked up a book by the inspirational speaker and writer, Brené Brown, It was about connection and belonging, a surprising place to find the theme I had been unable to articulate. But there it was. As Brown put it, ‘We are different in many ways, but underneath it all we are deeply connected.’ I was going to have to do a lot more reading to understand why, but I knew instantly that this sentence spoke directly to the hold Italy had on me. I also knew that while Italy was my teacher, and the vehicle that helped me understand how deeply we are all connected, that undeniable sense of connection was the more compelling story I wanted to explore."
I had blogged about my travels for a number of years, and decided that I wanted to capture the full experience in one place. However it wasn't until I was reading a book by Brene' Brown that I began to fully understand the grasp that Italy had on me. As I write in the preface of my book:
"Then one day I picked up a book by the inspirational speaker and writer, Brené Brown, It was about connection and belonging, a surprising place to find the theme I had been unable to articulate. But there it was. As Brown put it, ‘We are different in many ways, but underneath it all we are deeply connected.’ I was going to have to do a lot more reading to understand why, but I knew instantly that this sentence spoke directly to the hold Italy had on me. I also knew that while Italy was my teacher, and the vehicle that helped me understand how deeply we are all connected, that undeniable sense of connection was the more compelling story I wanted to explore."
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