Ask the Author: E.M. Storm-Smith
Answered Questions (5)
E.M. Storm-Smith
I read other peoples books. Inspiration and story ideas come from everywhere, but especially from felling connected to someone else who is doing what you love.
E.M. Storm-Smith
"The best time to plant a tree (or write your novel) was 20 years ago, the second best time is TODAY!"
Just start. Don't let the daunting aspect of writing get in the way of your storytelling. Writing is about taking the reader on a journey, so if you have somewhere to go, you are ready to write.
If the first one is only 3,000 words - GREAT! I love short stories! If you are like me and 145k words later you don't know when to stop - FANTASTIC! You already have 2 books and an editor can help you cut them up! I'm the worst speller, hate grammar, am wildly inconsistent with punctuation, and use way too many clichés. But my betas and editors have helped me see those errors and fix them. The journey was good enough to invest in and grammar mistakes can be fixed.
Just remember - it's so much easier to start from something that isn't perfect and make it better than to start from nowhere.
Just start. Don't let the daunting aspect of writing get in the way of your storytelling. Writing is about taking the reader on a journey, so if you have somewhere to go, you are ready to write.
If the first one is only 3,000 words - GREAT! I love short stories! If you are like me and 145k words later you don't know when to stop - FANTASTIC! You already have 2 books and an editor can help you cut them up! I'm the worst speller, hate grammar, am wildly inconsistent with punctuation, and use way too many clichés. But my betas and editors have helped me see those errors and fix them. The journey was good enough to invest in and grammar mistakes can be fixed.
Just remember - it's so much easier to start from something that isn't perfect and make it better than to start from nowhere.
E.M. Storm-Smith
In a literal sense, I'm working on getting my first novel ready for publication. Covers, edits, copyright registrations ... it's exhausting!
In the writing sense, I'm super excited about the book I'm approx. 30% of the way into! It's going to be a P&P variation loose mash-up with "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court" - there will be a time travel element, a 21st century main character in 1811, a Wickham duel, and a wildly different set of challenges for Darcy and Lizzy.
In the writing sense, I'm super excited about the book I'm approx. 30% of the way into! It's going to be a P&P variation loose mash-up with "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court" - there will be a time travel element, a 21st century main character in 1811, a Wickham duel, and a wildly different set of challenges for Darcy and Lizzy.
E.M. Storm-Smith
Inspiration is not my problem. Writing is my obsession, the thing I want to do all the time. My bigger concern is how to get inspired to do my day job that pays the bills!
E.M. Storm-Smith
A lot of my ideas for Jane Austen Variation novels come from imagining different outcomes to the most famous scenes. My favorite to re-write is the Lady C / Elizabeth "obstinate headstrong girl" scene at the end of the book. I've written it with Lady C and Caroline, Lady Matlock (Darcy's Countess Aunt) and Elizabeth, and in my modern adaptation, I'm thinking about writing it with Caroline playing the part of Lady C. Once I know the ending, its a matter of pants-ing my way through the book to get to where I want to go.
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