Ask the Author: Sarah Reida
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Sarah S. Reida
It's actually not "never give up." It's to hone your craft. I spent three years writing before I landed my first agent. After three unsuccessful submissions, we parted ways. My next agent sold my next book - book number FOUR - on the first try. Throughout that entire time, I was always working - reading, editing others' work (which is really helpful, because you see what works and what doesn't, and a lot of times you'll pick up on problems in your own writing that you're too close to the project to see), writing new books, editing those books, reading about writing, etc.
Point being, if I hadn't given up and stayed in a rut, I wouldn't have a book coming out. So, if you're not willing to put yourself out there and work to get better, you're not doing yourself any favors. But if you want a writing career, badly, and you're willing to do the work to get where you need to be despite the many inevitable disappointments (some people find success right away, but those stories are prominently retold because they're rare), you will get there.
Point being, if I hadn't given up and stayed in a rut, I wouldn't have a book coming out. So, if you're not willing to put yourself out there and work to get better, you're not doing yourself any favors. But if you want a writing career, badly, and you're willing to do the work to get where you need to be despite the many inevitable disappointments (some people find success right away, but those stories are prominently retold because they're rare), you will get there.
Sarah S. Reida
My husband gave me the idea for the book I'm working on right now, after we watched BIG. He thought the idea of a kid going through different careers (astronaut, doctor, teacher, etc), would be a lot of fun. A bit ironic since he hates to read, but hey, it's a good idea - I'll take it!
Sarah S. Reida
The best thing is to NOT WRITE. When you're a writer dealing with writer's block, especially when you want to be working on something, it's really easy to start writing and hope that the good story will come to you. It doesn't work that way, or at least not in my experience. I always end up trashing anything I write under those circumstances.
The best way to defeat writer's block - for me - is to re-read or re-watch something inspiring and relevant to what you're working on or what you want to work on. For example, the book I'm writing now has similarities to a certain movie. When I found myself getting stuck, I re-watched the movie and remembered how much I love it and why I was writing this book.
The best way to defeat writer's block - for me - is to re-read or re-watch something inspiring and relevant to what you're working on or what you want to work on. For example, the book I'm writing now has similarities to a certain movie. When I found myself getting stuck, I re-watched the movie and remembered how much I love it and why I was writing this book.
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