Ask the Author: Bonnie Grove
Answered Questions (4)
Bonnie Grove
I've just finished book one in a series and am pulling together ideas and materials for a prequel.
The plan is for it to be a three book series.
I'll be updating specifics about the series in the near future.
It's fun, nerdy, and involves maps, time travel (sort of), and a dog named Mooch.
The plan is for it to be a three book series.
I'll be updating specifics about the series in the near future.
It's fun, nerdy, and involves maps, time travel (sort of), and a dog named Mooch.
Bonnie Grove
Read.
Read what you love.
Read what you would like to write.
Read well beyond what you love to read.
Read classics. Understand and appreciate the 300 years of literature that has come before you. Read and continue to read for as long as you write.
Refuse to allow yourself to become stuck reading one or two genres or types of books.
Find joy in all kinds of writing.
Read books that are too deep, too difficult for you.
Take a course in English lit.
Take your ideas seriously.
Learn to read for love. Learn to write for love.
Read what you love.
Read what you would like to write.
Read well beyond what you love to read.
Read classics. Understand and appreciate the 300 years of literature that has come before you. Read and continue to read for as long as you write.
Refuse to allow yourself to become stuck reading one or two genres or types of books.
Find joy in all kinds of writing.
Read books that are too deep, too difficult for you.
Take a course in English lit.
Take your ideas seriously.
Learn to read for love. Learn to write for love.
Bonnie Grove
Writing is more than, well, writing. It's a complex of disciplines: reading, paying attention, rumination, study, sharpening observation skills, delving into the human condition, upending simplistic ideas.
Understood as a whole, there's isn't any such thing as writer's block. If I'm done writing for the day, then it's time to turn my attention to other aspects of the disciple of writing. Creativity is always happening, it doesn't have to look like one thing (writing).
Usually what we think of as writer's block is the writer unaccustomed to taking her writing seriously and fighting with her brain to take it seriously. Time and consistent effort overcomes this. Also, taking a break from text can help. A change of scenery, going for a walk, something that blows the cobwebs away. Just be certain to return to writing after the break.
Sometimes, simply writing about something different is enough to refresh the mind.
Understood as a whole, there's isn't any such thing as writer's block. If I'm done writing for the day, then it's time to turn my attention to other aspects of the disciple of writing. Creativity is always happening, it doesn't have to look like one thing (writing).
Usually what we think of as writer's block is the writer unaccustomed to taking her writing seriously and fighting with her brain to take it seriously. Time and consistent effort overcomes this. Also, taking a break from text can help. A change of scenery, going for a walk, something that blows the cobwebs away. Just be certain to return to writing after the break.
Sometimes, simply writing about something different is enough to refresh the mind.
Bonnie Grove
Multiple streams converge. That seems to be the way book ideas happen for me. Several light bulb moments coalesce. My recent work is a combination of inspirations from an old broadway musical, an interview I heard on CBC radio with a cartographer, and my children asking me questions about when I was a teenager (in the 1980s).
I experience many bright idea moments, but those alone aren't enough. I keep these ideas tucked away until they begin to buddy up with other inspirations. This, I hope, helps me craft complex stories along strong themes.
Then there's the bit that happens while writing. Inspiration and ideas add themselves to the book as I write. Themes and questions emerge that, until then, were latent at best. Ah hah moments happen at all stages of writing.
I experience many bright idea moments, but those alone aren't enough. I keep these ideas tucked away until they begin to buddy up with other inspirations. This, I hope, helps me craft complex stories along strong themes.
Then there's the bit that happens while writing. Inspiration and ideas add themselves to the book as I write. Themes and questions emerge that, until then, were latent at best. Ah hah moments happen at all stages of writing.
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