Ask the Author: Rick Moss
Answered Questions (4)
Rick Moss
Craft is everything. Don't for a minute believe that, because you can dream up a plot, anyone will care unless you can lead them properly through your story using the tricks of the trade. Words are like atoms floating in the ether. Pulled together into one molecular structure gives you a diamond; a slight deviation gives you a lump of coal.
Also, be humble. When you think you’re getting somewhere, remind yourself that you don’t know diddly. Accept that nothing you write is beyond sacrifice for the overall good.
And never give up. Good writing doesn’t come cheap — you need to spend years, if not decades, at it.
Also, be humble. When you think you’re getting somewhere, remind yourself that you don’t know diddly. Accept that nothing you write is beyond sacrifice for the overall good.
And never give up. Good writing doesn’t come cheap — you need to spend years, if not decades, at it.
Rick Moss
Writers have an unequaled freedom to explore, limited only by their technical skills and imagination. Even writers in totalitarian societies, working clandestinely, enjoy this freedom. Writers who master their craft are like gods, creating their own worlds and populating them with the people they want to spend time with. The best thing about being a writer is having the power to create whatever you want.
Rick Moss
I can't say this is a problem for me of much consequence, but when I need fresh ideas, I do research. I try to delve into subjects and points of view I've never encountered. That tends to nudge me out of my comfortable groove and spark new narrative possibilities.
Rick Moss
Few if any romantic couples come to mind, or at least romantic in the conventional sense. The most intriguing of those type are doomed for disaster — Macbeth and Lady Macbeth; Othello and Desdemona. I think instead of friendships: Estragon and Vladimir in Waiting for Godot; Huck Finn and Jim; George and Lenny from Of Mice and Men. These are somehow more pleasing. Maybe it's a guy thing, but I feel I've learned so much from the flawed but sincere loyalty demonstrated by their relations. And if following that tack, I'd have to say the ultimate for me is the On the Road couple, Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty. I've known a couple of Deans in my day and think back on my exploits with them as transcendent. Sometimes, it takes a run at madness to get a glimpse at your own ultimate potential.
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