Ask the Author: L. Bracken
Answered Questions (6)
L. Bracken
My recent book is a work in progress. It is under development in the way of illustrations, photos and final build-out of chapter content. It was inspired by my life-long commitment to environmental sustainability and healthy lifestyles as well as the ability to regain my health from a pretty significant near-collapse brought on by stress-fueled dietary neglect - a fairly 'American symptom' all-in-all... I've researched the connection between health and nutrition for the past eight years, tweaking my approach to personal well being all the while. Given the amount of often disassociated and frequently confusing information surrounding this important topic, I realized the potential benefit to others struggling with similar circumstances, in sharing my unique perspective and sustained success.
L. Bracken
I have no trouble with inspiration - it is all around us. I find that many of my students, however, do struggle with that issue, and I empathize. Whereas I don't have that issue with writing, I am at times simply stuck for a subject or perspective to sketch or paint - though I love, love, love art! I encourage students to focus on what moves them emotionally, and explore the basis of that emotion and its reaction. Is there a desire to celebrate or honor an emerging perspective? A desire to explain or argue a position; to inform or enlighten a reader? To illuminate a side unseen? I then encourage students to take this seed of an idea and help it find it's form of expression by considering it as a poem, an essay, a journal entry, a short story... then, let your relative thoughts flow... just flow - stream of consciousness style. See if a character walks into the landscape to help you express an idea - or perhaps to argue a point with you. Shining a light on a possible path forward often leads to great new horizons to explore!
L. Bracken
I am currently working on a health and lifestyle book, which centers round raw, vegan nutrition. I grew up appreciating a vegetarian perspective from my mother (a vegetarian), my father (a naturopath) and my grandfather (initially an allopathic, then later a holistic physician), as well as its health benefits and encouraged organic, sustainable farming practices; but the specific nutritional bio-activity of a raw/vegan lifestyle is something I've been diligently researching for the past eight years. That necessarily diversified perspective has finally come to a point of distillation and sharing in a format which I think can make the lifestyle much more approachable for many wondering where and how to begin and if it's really worth it (which - in my view at the half-century mark - it SO is!)
L. Bracken
Work most with what inspires you most, and endeavor to be an original voice, effectively communicated to your intended audience. No one sees the world quite like you. We all regard life through the lens of our own experiences, cultural subscriptions and pathologies. It shapes how we uniquely perceive the common "reality". That's why it's important to write what you know. Explain that view through 'telling' which translates to the experience of characters you create to illuminate that point of view. Experiment. Be fearless in exploring plot direction. Create believable characters as honest in reckoning with their in-progress personhood as we all are. Just go - believe - write!
L. Bracken
I find the most rewarding aspect of writing is the capacity to create the world you wish to experience. Fiction is a delightful vehicle for creating characters and circumstances which illuminate a perspective or solve a problem, or illuminate problems on the way to finding a new perspective. It is just super fun to experiment with setting, narrative, character development, dialogue and plot. I find great reward in teaching - that is, in sharing what, in my experience, has been a successful approach to something. I find that non-fiction, children's commercial work - all of it implies communicating an idea, an ideal, a concept... so, I really enjoy playing around with that immeasurable potential and working to communicate it as effectively as I possibly can.
L. Bracken
I really don't experience writer's block, because I'm not only in constant awe of so much life around me, but I am further greatly inspired to articulate my perspective of it. The 'creative' in me enjoys the challenge and so does the editor, publisher, agent and marketer to work a piece to its highest potential. I just love the challenge. The greater issue for me is being so inspired that I generate a lot of ideas, and need to prioritize and organize them in order to help those with the greatest potential find expression. Most begin as fragments, which I house in various project folders. Eventually, they either find their way into a fully fledged work, or they rest, collecting related fragments until something germinates. Sometimes, they fruit almost immediately, other times, it may take years. I don't rush an idea. The best concepts emerge with force and their own brand of encouragement far beyond the blank page. That approach helps keep me focused and productive, without being overwhelmed or under-inspired. I've shared this technique with writing students who seem to benefit from it as much as I have.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more