Ask the Author: Mary Catelli
Answered Questions (4)
Mary Catelli
That would be A Diabolical Bargain (she says, declaring that means the most recently published).
Once upon a time, when I was little, I read a lot of fairy tales. This included several that featured a character whose heart was outside his body. The idea stuck, and I tried to use it in stories several times.
Then one day I was reading a story, and a character was recounting his backstory about what his father had tried to do to him. I thought it was wasted on a backstory. I pulled it out and started to work with it -- found it played nicely together with the heart idea -- and started work on it.
Once upon a time, when I was little, I read a lot of fairy tales. This included several that featured a character whose heart was outside his body. The idea stuck, and I tried to use it in stories several times.
Then one day I was reading a story, and a character was recounting his backstory about what his father had tried to do to him. I thought it was wasted on a backstory. I pulled it out and started to work with it -- found it played nicely together with the heart idea -- and started work on it.
Mary Catelli
Generally by writing. Sit down, start plopping words on the page, and the next thing you know they start flowing on their own.
This is why it is very important to set any daily quota to be higher than the amount of words you have to write to warm up on a normal day.
This is why it is very important to set any daily quota to be higher than the amount of words you have to write to warm up on a normal day.
Mary Catelli
Read a lot. Read all sorts of genres.
In particular, if you are going to write fantasy or science fiction, read history and especially primary source, which is to say, stuff written by people alive in historical eras. This is not so much research as getting a feel for how societies fit together, and how many things are odd and unusual about modern-day society. Vital for world-building.
At the same time, write. There is no substitute. The only way to master writing is to write lots and lots and lots.
In particular, if you are going to write fantasy or science fiction, read history and especially primary source, which is to say, stuff written by people alive in historical eras. This is not so much research as getting a feel for how societies fit together, and how many things are odd and unusual about modern-day society. Vital for world-building.
At the same time, write. There is no substitute. The only way to master writing is to write lots and lots and lots.
Mary Catelli
Depends on when I get it.
If I'm scribbling along on an outline, and get blocked, and think I know what happens next, I may reverse that and see whether it works. Heroine's going into a market where I planned to her to get some information? Fortunately, I had a dragon get annoyed earlier and could have it fly in and make her run off without the info.
I can also try Raymond Chandler's ploy: "When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand." First, of course, you have to work out what serves as a man with a gun in his hand for your work. One work I had something catch on fire whenever I was stymied.
Once writing up from the outline, I am more likely to give it more time to mull. Simple problems can be solved, often, by waiting until the next day. More complex ones by the simple expedient of working on something else. This can be dangerous; you need to remember to always circle back to the works in progress instead of starting something new, but it can help.
If I'm scribbling along on an outline, and get blocked, and think I know what happens next, I may reverse that and see whether it works. Heroine's going into a market where I planned to her to get some information? Fortunately, I had a dragon get annoyed earlier and could have it fly in and make her run off without the info.
I can also try Raymond Chandler's ploy: "When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand." First, of course, you have to work out what serves as a man with a gun in his hand for your work. One work I had something catch on fire whenever I was stymied.
Once writing up from the outline, I am more likely to give it more time to mull. Simple problems can be solved, often, by waiting until the next day. More complex ones by the simple expedient of working on something else. This can be dangerous; you need to remember to always circle back to the works in progress instead of starting something new, but it can help.
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