Ask the Author: Judith Simon Prager
Answered Questions (7)
Judith Simon Prager
Two sentence horror story. I’m not much for dystopias but here goes:
Hell is other people (Jean Paul Sartre). Then Hell freezes over and we’re ALL other people, frozen.
Hell is other people (Jean Paul Sartre). Then Hell freezes over and we’re ALL other people, frozen.
Judith Simon Prager
As I’ve said elsewhere, I teach Verbal First Aid and wanted to learn about NON-Verbal First Aid. The way animals like dogs, even some cats, horses, and especially dolphins relate to humans in a healing, caring way. What can they teach us? I had to follow the trail and it led to Mateo (the dolphin Apollo) in the book.
Judith Simon Prager
My husband is a poet and he’s often writing, even sometimes when I’m asleep. Then I wake up and hear his pencil quietly whispering on the page! It inspires me when I see him so filled with the passion of it. (So much so that I’ve just this month written and had three of my own poems accepted by literary journals.)
Judith Simon Prager
I give lectures across the country and around the world about Verbal First Aid—words and ways to say them to set a course for recovery and prevent traumatic reactions to crises. These days I’ve also been giving lectures on how to talk to kids about lockdown drills, about what “flow” might be, and, of course, about consciousness in relation to the dolphin book, for example NON-Verbal First Aid. I’m always seeking new information. So we’ll see what comes out of the latest investigations.
Judith Simon Prager
My advice is to think of people you know who love to hear you tell stories. Then imagine telling your story to them. They can’t wait for the next installment. They laugh in all the right places. You feel as free as you do when you’re hanging around with them and just regaling them with tales of some latest adventure.
Or, alternatively, some writers feel that they see the events before their eyes. Others feel as if they hear a voice or are taking dictation. Others just feel like they “know.” These modalities are called visual, auditory, or kinesthetic, and we often lean into one or another. Start to notice what clicks with you. But no matter which is your first orientation, always, always draw scenes with your words. That’s the way to put us there with you or your characters.
Or, alternatively, some writers feel that they see the events before their eyes. Others feel as if they hear a voice or are taking dictation. Others just feel like they “know.” These modalities are called visual, auditory, or kinesthetic, and we often lean into one or another. Start to notice what clicks with you. But no matter which is your first orientation, always, always draw scenes with your words. That’s the way to put us there with you or your characters.
Judith Simon Prager
The two things I love best about being a writer are that I love making words sing and when that happens I feel so joyful. And I love seeing what it is I think, which sometimes only comes “through” me when I sit down to write.
Judith Simon Prager
I don’t like to think of the downside of the unpredictable nature of inspiration as “writer’s block.” There are times when I’m so excited about a project, I’m writing it any time, day or night, even in my sleep. I don’t say that I’ll write three hours a day. I say, Oh, I know what comes next. And then I’m off and running. It’s true that a lot of writers insist that they must have a schedule and they’re more prolific than I am. But they may not be having more fun. My excitement about my story and characters are the fire under me.
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