Ask the Author: P.M. Gilbert
Answered Questions (6)
P.M. Gilbert
I don't suffer from this in a true sense. Writing just happens for me - 5 mins in and I'm usually in the zone.
That doesn't mean it is easy. Of the 4 main characters in the Tuatha Legends Series I found one really difficult to write. I was struggling to find that characters motivation. It is something I've realised, that I have to feel the characters emotional under current. It might not be obvious in the actual writing but I have to know it, where it comes from - it becomes my fuel for that characters journey in the story.
It took me 10 months to figure that out for this one particular character I've mentioned. It definitely held me up but it wasn't writers block more like a problem to solve.
The irony is that now I've figured out that character's undercurrent they are going to be amazing in future books in the series. Their undercurrent and motivation will provide a rich vein of conflict and emotion that I can tap into as an author and let the story flow.
That doesn't mean it is easy. Of the 4 main characters in the Tuatha Legends Series I found one really difficult to write. I was struggling to find that characters motivation. It is something I've realised, that I have to feel the characters emotional under current. It might not be obvious in the actual writing but I have to know it, where it comes from - it becomes my fuel for that characters journey in the story.
It took me 10 months to figure that out for this one particular character I've mentioned. It definitely held me up but it wasn't writers block more like a problem to solve.
The irony is that now I've figured out that character's undercurrent they are going to be amazing in future books in the series. Their undercurrent and motivation will provide a rich vein of conflict and emotion that I can tap into as an author and let the story flow.
P.M. Gilbert
The creative satisfaction I get when I hit or write a part of the story that just zings for me. It makes me happy. It is that simple. Not all parts of a story are easy or fun to write but there is always a part or element that just sings. It can be a chapter, a paragraph or just a single line.
P.M. Gilbert
don't wait 30 years like I did. That is the biggest regret of my life. It doesn't matter what you do or where you are. Take 10 minutes every and write something - anything. You'll be amazed at how much those 10 minutes add up and how much your writing will improve. Writing the most creative satisfaction I have and it sustained me mentally through a challenging couple of years.
P.M. Gilbert
My first series - Tuatha Legends and the challenge is working on craft while trying to wrestle with the ideas and directions my author mind throws out. Those two things are not always compatible!
P.M. Gilbert
I've always wanted to write. I wrote my first book as an 10 year old on my Dad's typewriter. It was inspired by Sherlock Holmes.
P.M. Gilbert
It started with an experience I had when I was a boy, about the same age as one of the characters in the book. It stayed with me and it was the first scene I wrote almost 30 years later. After that my imagination just flowed. I had no idea my brain could work like that! Characters and situations just appear literally from nowhere for me. Some appear fully formed and I know exactly who they are as I'm writing them. Others take a work and time.
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