Ask the Author: Susan Sloate
Answered Questions (4)
Susan Sloate
Write, and keep writing! Every idea you have, put it down.
Learn the tools of your craft--good usage, spelling, grammar, all that stuff you hated in English class. You need to know how to use words well. (This is not just my opinion; Stephen King feels strongly about this as well, which should make you think.)
Learn classic three-act story structure. Knowing where you're going is a big help in getting you there, and will save you years of frustration.
Take a little time to plan where you're going. Having notes, if not an outline, will keep you moving in the right direction.
Learn the tools of your craft--good usage, spelling, grammar, all that stuff you hated in English class. You need to know how to use words well. (This is not just my opinion; Stephen King feels strongly about this as well, which should make you think.)
Learn classic three-act story structure. Knowing where you're going is a big help in getting you there, and will save you years of frustration.
Take a little time to plan where you're going. Having notes, if not an outline, will keep you moving in the right direction.
Susan Sloate
My next book is a sequel to my 2013 novel, FORWARD TO CAMELOT, and it's a story I'm really excited about. My time-traveling actress, Cady Cuyler, returns to the present and has just finished filming her first movie. She's asked to participate in a live television dance competition, in order to help promote the movie, which she does, but something goes wrong and people start to be murdered, and it's all because of something she did back in the past.
Susan Sloate
Writer's block, to me, is that moment when you look at your project and you have no idea what to do next. I have this happen on a regular basis, and it's truly scary. As long as I have some idea of SOMETHING I can do next--like work on a character, or follow a plot idea--I'm not having writer's block. But when I literally don't know what to do, that's writer's block and it's horrific. It's very easy to walk away from your project at that point.
I handle it by asking friends with a great story sense to help. We meet for lunch, I throw out my issue, and usually after an hour or so, I have a number of suggested ways I can go. It doesn't always get me back to dead center, but it's a great way to re-start once I grind to a halt.
I handle it by asking friends with a great story sense to help. We meet for lunch, I throw out my issue, and usually after an hour or so, I have a number of suggested ways I can go. It doesn't always get me back to dead center, but it's a great way to re-start once I grind to a halt.
Susan Sloate
I'm not sure it's 'inspired' as much as an idea that nags at me (a lot like my children). Something occurs to me--usually the juxtaposition of two very different things--and the combination seems original and promising. So I start to explore it, and often, every question I ask myself in this early stage seems to inspire a quick and interesting answer. That leads me to ask more questions and get more interested. Then, if the idea really has merit, it tends to be persistent. I can't forget it, can't shrug it off. It keeps popping into my mind until I start to take notes, maybe do some reading for research--and then it has me, and I can't let go until I get to 'The End'.
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