Ask the Author: Stephen Baker
Answered Questions (6)
Stephen Baker
I had written a non-fiction book about IBM's Jeopardy computer, Watson. (Final Jeopardy: Man vs Machine and the Quest to Know Everything) I thought the book raised interesting questions about the future of knowledge, and how people and machines would divvy up the cognitive work in coming decades. So I decided to write about the future as I saw it. In involved placing networked Watsons into our heads.
Stephen Baker
The worst thing for a writer is to wait for inspiration. The trick is to write every day, regardless of inspiration. Writing itself unleashes it.
Stephen Baker
I'm writing the prequel to The Boost. It's called Washington at War, and it takes place 29 years earlier, in 2043. The United States and China, each with its own brain chip, are battling for cognitive dominance in the world. The story involves characters from The Boost, including Stella and Francisco, but it's told from the point of view of Gary, a spy.
Stephen Baker
When I got out of college, I went to Ecuador, taught English and wrote short stories. They weren't very good. To make a living as a writer, I went into journalism. That forced me to meet people and to learn. It pushed me into the fray, which I think was good for my writing. It gave me raw material based on life and conflict. So my advice to aspiring writers is to get up, go outside and get involved somehow in the human drama.
Stephen Baker
What I love about writing is that characters and conversations that didn't exist in the morning are alive and doing their thing by dinnertime. Then they're alive in my mind through days and weeks. Another thing I like is that I can be "at work" simply by opening the computer, or even thinking.
Stephen Baker
When an author tries to create perfection, writer's block rears up. This is because every sentence could be better, which is always true. Looking for that "best" sentence can be paralyzing. My goal is to write 1,000 words a day. They don't have to be great, much less perfect. I just have to reach that number. That usually takes care of writer's block.
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