Ask the Author: Emma Burns
Answered Questions (7)
Emma Burns
I like to look at situations where people are stuck and try to figure out how to get them out of there. It can be all different ways of being stuck, but that's really the common theme. I learned this from brilliant author A.S. King, full credit! But also Rainbow Rowell tends to work this way. The next level is to give characters no-win situations, or at least choices with no easy or good option. Then what do you do? In other words, the more trouble someone is in, the better.
Emma Burns
The best thing is the massive endorphins I get from writing. Seriously, if you can find a way to connect that in your brain, you will write so many things. Now if I could only connect exercise and endorphins the way I had them hooked up back in my twenties....
Emma Burns
My family doesn't really know anything about one grandfather or his family. I would love to research them, maybe even meet them, and find out what we have in common, if anything. What happened with him and my grandmother? Why did he disappear from our lives? I would hope the reality would be much less dramatic and upsetting than the book I'd write about this potential search. I can imagine both wonderful and terrible things.
Emma Burns
I believe writer's block happens when we know something is wrong with our work but we aren't able to articulate what it is. That always stops me in my tracks. So my solution is: analysis. Analyze the problem. Where are you stuck? What's wrong with that spot? What are ten options for changes right there? Why is this scene so hard for you to write? What if you leave it out entirely, or write a note like [dinner party here] then skip over it and keep going?
Emma Burns
I'm rewriting a draft of a book tentatively called Forty Days and Forty Nights. It needs some work! I made some CHOICES in this draft, choices which need to be made differently. Then everything down the line has to get fixed to match up. It's fine. I have a wish list and I'm doing the chapter breakdown/outline right now. Rewriting is so much fun because I never remember anything I've written. It's full of fun surprises and parts that make me laugh out loud, right along with the parts that make me say, "Oh no" and get out the metaphorical red pen.
Emma Burns
The first secret to writing is: you don't have to know the ending or even the middle when you start.
The second secret is: you're not writing a story or a novel. You're writing a first draft. It's not a performance! It's only a rough draft.
The third secret is: you have to finish everything. Get that rough draft written and get all the way to the end before you even think about making any decisions about it.
The fourth secret is: if you decide something isn't working, just write a big note like ACTUALLY SHE'S A NURSE and keep going as if you'd had it that way all along. Always keep going. Never stop and revise in the drafting process.
The second secret is: you're not writing a story or a novel. You're writing a first draft. It's not a performance! It's only a rough draft.
The third secret is: you have to finish everything. Get that rough draft written and get all the way to the end before you even think about making any decisions about it.
The fourth secret is: if you decide something isn't working, just write a big note like ACTUALLY SHE'S A NURSE and keep going as if you'd had it that way all along. Always keep going. Never stop and revise in the drafting process.
Emma Burns
My most recent book is about a person who just left foster care and is starting college on her own. Even her best friend who was supposed to start at the same time bailed on her. How is she going to manage it? I got the idea from my wonderful students, all of whom are going through various kinds of hell no matter how supportive their backgrounds are, because freshman year is hard for everyone. Massive trust issues and a history of trauma make it even harder. This is actually a fun book about a creative filmmaker who has done amazing things against impossible odds.
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