Ask the Author: Jessica Dall
Answered Questions (6)
Jessica Dall
A lot of times I'm inspired by pictures, honestly. My fantasy series originally came from a picture of the Vatican Library. I thought the building was so lovely that I built an entire world around it. For the Broken Line series, it originally came from a painting by Frank Cowper. But then anything can spark off an idea, it's just if they end up going anywhere.
Jessica Dall
My bigger problem is finding ways to not be writing. If left to my own devices I would never come up for air.
Jessica Dall
Personally, I love building characters. I've always been a character-driven author so it's great that I've been able to make it my career, thinking up interesting people and writing down what they do with their lives.
Jessica Dall
Keep writing. It doesn't have to be good, it doesn't even have to be sort of okay. Like with any other art form, you learn by doing. If you don't write anything, you can't edit anything. If you can't edit anything, you can't learn. Perfection shouldn't be your goal.
Jessica Dall
I'm currently alternating between working on another Broken Line novella, a fantasy series that will be coming out sometime next year, and any other little side projects that demand to be written.
Jessica Dall
I've found that the best way to get past writer's block is to just start writing. Even if I don't have anything to say, I'll sometimes have my characters start talking about something (one time it was the main character complaining about how awful the story was up until that point) or write a scene that has nothing to do with the actual story (like sending them couch shopping). Just getting some sense of movement is generally enough to start breaking through writer's block.
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