Ask the Author: Emily C.A. Snyder
Answered Questions (7)
Emily C.A. Snyder
Plays, I think. Short plays. Only because they're quick and easy to write!
Emily C.A. Snyder
Working from home! Or from Starbucks. LOTS of tea.
Emily C.A. Snyder
Typically, I think about housework I should be doing and VOILA! Wouldn't it be nice to *write?*
Seriously, though, the impetus to write, to create is never far off. But it's important to recognize the phases of the brain when you're gestating a project. There are books that demand to be written RIGHT NOW. And those you're going to stay up late for and labor to get out. And then you'll find that you need to let it simmer for a while. It won't *feel* like "work," but I truly do believe that the subconscious takes in all sorts of things that feed the work without you necessarily realizing it. Then, when everything's ready again, you'll feel the urge to push and you make the time to do it.
It's that old saw: Invention is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.
Seriously, though, the impetus to write, to create is never far off. But it's important to recognize the phases of the brain when you're gestating a project. There are books that demand to be written RIGHT NOW. And those you're going to stay up late for and labor to get out. And then you'll find that you need to let it simmer for a while. It won't *feel* like "work," but I truly do believe that the subconscious takes in all sorts of things that feed the work without you necessarily realizing it. Then, when everything's ready again, you'll feel the urge to push and you make the time to do it.
It's that old saw: Invention is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.
Emily C.A. Snyder
Complete a project. Submit it. Repeat.
Remember you're a business. If you're sending a half-completed Western to a fantasy agent, you haven't done your homework yet.
Treat writing like a profession, not a hobby. Be courteous. Be prompt. Be kind.
Read work that's like yours. Read books in your genre that are great - and books that are bad. Dissect them. Why did they work? Why did they fail? What can you learn?
Endure. Write. Complete. Submit. Repeat.
Remember you're a business. If you're sending a half-completed Western to a fantasy agent, you haven't done your homework yet.
Treat writing like a profession, not a hobby. Be courteous. Be prompt. Be kind.
Read work that's like yours. Read books in your genre that are great - and books that are bad. Dissect them. Why did they work? Why did they fail? What can you learn?
Endure. Write. Complete. Submit. Repeat.
Emily C.A. Snyder
I've found that Twitter has been a great help (you can follow me @emilycasnyder). Generally, throwing out frustrations into the void, joining a word sprint, following #amwriting and #amediting when the going gets tough - these are all better than delving into yet another time-sucking puzzle game! Making a NaNoWriMo word count chart also helps. I work well to deadlines.
I also have beta readers and cheerleaders who encourage, suggest, and generally EXPECT to receive new pages. Did I mention I work well to deadlines?
I also have beta readers and cheerleaders who encourage, suggest, and generally EXPECT to receive new pages. Did I mention I work well to deadlines?
Emily C.A. Snyder
Actually, the first idea for THE SABLE VALENTINE came while I was proctoring final exams, almost ten years ago now. Proctoring is such a stupefyingly boring job (see a hilarious sketch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_0ab...) that I would keep a notebook by me and free write.
Somewhere in there, Captain Reynard Thibauld began speaking, trying to solve the mystery of who had murdered his daughter, armed only with various newspaper articles, blueprints, private journals, and love letters, a burnt townhouse, the shattered glass of a chandelier, and the haunting shadow of the mysterious Sable Valentine.
When I got home that afternoon, I read what I'd written to my sister and father, and asked them what they thought. Immediately, we all started brainstorming about what these clues could mean and who or what The Sable Valentine could be. (So, yes, I do know the answer. ;)
Somewhere in there, Captain Reynard Thibauld began speaking, trying to solve the mystery of who had murdered his daughter, armed only with various newspaper articles, blueprints, private journals, and love letters, a burnt townhouse, the shattered glass of a chandelier, and the haunting shadow of the mysterious Sable Valentine.
When I got home that afternoon, I read what I'd written to my sister and father, and asked them what they thought. Immediately, we all started brainstorming about what these clues could mean and who or what The Sable Valentine could be. (So, yes, I do know the answer. ;)
Emily C.A. Snyder
I'm currently writing THE SABLE VALENTINE: A Mystery of Letters. It's an epistolary mystery novel set in a fantasy post-Revolution France. Basically, think of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL with magic.
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