Ask the Author: Peter Beere
Answered Questions (10)
Peter Beere
The normal light stuff. Dostoyevsky's 'Demons'. The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth. Meanwhile in Dopamine City by DBC Pierre.
Peter Beere
Robinson Crusoe's island. I would lie in the sun. Try to catch fish. Relax.
Peter Beere
Driving home from an overnight fishing trip, many years ago. Through rural Yorkshire on my way to Levens, where I lived at the time. Middle of the night. A fairly wooded area. Very dark. No traffic on the road.
Turned a bend and a naked man ran across the road in front of me - starkly white in the beams of the headlights. Burst out of the trees on one side of the road, disappeared into the trees on the other side of the road.
Guy didn't look at me. I didn't stop to see what he was up to. I did what you did in those days - had a slug of vodka from the bottle in the door compartment, kept on driving.
I have to confess, I was so tired I couldn't make it all the way home. I pulled into a car park in Settle. Woke up the next morning - broad daylight, staring at any ivy-clad wall, thinking - 'Where the hell?'
Turned a bend and a naked man ran across the road in front of me - starkly white in the beams of the headlights. Burst out of the trees on one side of the road, disappeared into the trees on the other side of the road.
Guy didn't look at me. I didn't stop to see what he was up to. I did what you did in those days - had a slug of vodka from the bottle in the door compartment, kept on driving.
I have to confess, I was so tired I couldn't make it all the way home. I pulled into a car park in Settle. Woke up the next morning - broad daylight, staring at any ivy-clad wall, thinking - 'Where the hell?'
Peter Beere
My God, what is that? He said as it started eating him.
Peter Beere
No one deals well with writer's block. If there was a proven formula everyone would know it, everyone would employ it, and writer's block wouldn't exist.
Some very great writers have struggled with block.
But nobody ever said writing is meant to be easy.
We don't have to do it. We choose to do it. And so we must battle its obstacles.
Otherwise we have given up.
And we will not be a writer.
Some very great writers have struggled with block.
But nobody ever said writing is meant to be easy.
We don't have to do it. We choose to do it. And so we must battle its obstacles.
Otherwise we have given up.
And we will not be a writer.
Peter Beere
Being yourself. Working with your own thoughts. Having responsibility to nobody but the person you hope will read your book.
Although that is a very big responsibility. It's a contract, between the author and the reader. They are offering their time and money to read your book. Do not let them down.
Although that is a very big responsibility. It's a contract, between the author and the reader. They are offering their time and money to read your book. Do not let them down.
Peter Beere
Have patience. And perseverance. Then find more patience and perseverance. A book takes a long time to write. It won't happen overnight.
A good lead character is vital. You have to be able to believe in them. You have to 'know' them.
Once you get started don't look back. Keep going. You can worry about how good it is later. You can worry about editing it later. The most important thing is to put the words down.
There are going to be a lot, so be prepared for that.
It can be hard work. You might find it difficult at times. But keep going.
What you are writing is wonderful and unique - nobody else has ever written it before. Writing is a gift. Try to enjoy it.
But don't fall in love with your own words. Be prepared to sacrifice a lot of them. Always be aware that you are writing for somebody else - not for yourself.
If you just want to write for yourself, keep a diary.
A good lead character is vital. You have to be able to believe in them. You have to 'know' them.
Once you get started don't look back. Keep going. You can worry about how good it is later. You can worry about editing it later. The most important thing is to put the words down.
There are going to be a lot, so be prepared for that.
It can be hard work. You might find it difficult at times. But keep going.
What you are writing is wonderful and unique - nobody else has ever written it before. Writing is a gift. Try to enjoy it.
But don't fall in love with your own words. Be prepared to sacrifice a lot of them. Always be aware that you are writing for somebody else - not for yourself.
If you just want to write for yourself, keep a diary.
Peter Beere
I wish I knew. Ideas are elusive. They are like shooting stars in the maelstrom of my mind.
I would like to say I am very clever and the idea came from the depths of my genius.
But it just happened.
Most of a story (practically all of it) is made up as it goes along.
I never have an idea for the ultimate destination. I have to make that up in the last chapter.
I would like to say I am very clever and the idea came from the depths of my genius.
But it just happened.
Most of a story (practically all of it) is made up as it goes along.
I never have an idea for the ultimate destination. I have to make that up in the last chapter.
Peter Beere
1924. A dystopian thriller set in a London not too much unlike the current one.
Peter Beere
I get bored and want to be famous.
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