Ask the Author: Glynda Shaw
Answered Questions (6)
Glynda Shaw
I got the idea for my most recently published book Experimental College My Summer in Serendip, in the following way. It had two sources actually. I once had a roommate in college who could have possibly become more, but didn’t.
I’d wondered over the years what might have happened if things had gone differently. I also had been playing with a concept of a young, somewhat effeminate man, being attracted to a somewhat dominant male of similar age but greater experience. I imagined the less experienced guy getting advice and support from two women, themselves a couple, who lived next door, down the hall or otherwise nearby, in a dormitory situation.
What started out to be a sexual romp, perhaps with kinks, turned into what I hope is a thoughtful examination of how interests begin and end between people of various genders and how we all have the need to know parts of ourselves which have remained hidden throughout the turmoils of maturation.
I’d wondered over the years what might have happened if things had gone differently. I also had been playing with a concept of a young, somewhat effeminate man, being attracted to a somewhat dominant male of similar age but greater experience. I imagined the less experienced guy getting advice and support from two women, themselves a couple, who lived next door, down the hall or otherwise nearby, in a dormitory situation.
What started out to be a sexual romp, perhaps with kinks, turned into what I hope is a thoughtful examination of how interests begin and end between people of various genders and how we all have the need to know parts of ourselves which have remained hidden throughout the turmoils of maturation.
Glynda Shaw
I am currently working on a novel about a 10-year-old blind boy named Tim, who is transferred from public school and sent to a residential school for the blind in Vancouver, Washington.
The story of life in a blind school has seldom been told but there is a difference--. Tim was one of twins. His sister’s heart had been damaged since birth through the same trauma which took Tim’s sight. Tami dies the year before Tim goes to the State School but Tami’s spirit remains and a spiritually-gifted house parent at The School can perceive her though she appears to speak out of Tim’s mouth.
A silver six-pence, a jar of salve and the door to a strange room at the back of the school library, which nobody but Tim can find, are all clues to the strange connections between this world and the next.
The story of life in a blind school has seldom been told but there is a difference--. Tim was one of twins. His sister’s heart had been damaged since birth through the same trauma which took Tim’s sight. Tami dies the year before Tim goes to the State School but Tami’s spirit remains and a spiritually-gifted house parent at The School can perceive her though she appears to speak out of Tim’s mouth.
A silver six-pence, a jar of salve and the door to a strange room at the back of the school library, which nobody but Tim can find, are all clues to the strange connections between this world and the next.
Glynda Shaw
The best thing about being a writer is watching something come out of nothing. Writing is truly magical in for that reason.
Though we spend a lot of money on computers and other assorted contrivances, the writing process itself is imminently portable and can be accomplished, (if sometimes laboriously) with any number of implements and on everything from silicon chips to a cave wall.
Writing is to the mind what potter’s clay is to the fingers.
Though we spend a lot of money on computers and other assorted contrivances, the writing process itself is imminently portable and can be accomplished, (if sometimes laboriously) with any number of implements and on everything from silicon chips to a cave wall.
Writing is to the mind what potter’s clay is to the fingers.
Glynda Shaw
I think the thing that most inspires me to write is in reexamining my past life, I see times when things could have gone some other way or characters chance met, who may have played a greater role in my life had things been different. Rather than having a message to put across to readers, I like to create situations and characters, often based in true life and are interesting to me. Having done so, it’s great fun to see if others find them interesting and worth remembering.
Glynda Shaw
My advice to aspiring authors is to Practice.
You can’t play the piano just by reading music books and you can’t do math unless you actually work problems.
Samewise, to write you must write. Write letters, poems, your thoughts, descriptions of things, even silly stuff. Mother hung my sister’s prom dress in my closet. Is she telling me something? Or I just found that between 2:00 and 3:00 PM, my back door opens into someone else’s house! Don’t be afraid to rewrite, in fact you might try telling a story two or three times from different perspectives.
Try to keep some kind of writing schedule. Put a certain number of words down on paper every day or three times a week or whatever schedule with which you feel comfortable. Lastly, don’t worry whether or not you’re smart enough to be a writer. Somebody of average intelligence who writes every day has it over the genius who just never gets around to putting down thoughts because there’s always so much else to do.
Besides, in my experience someone who wants to write, likes to write and actually does write, usually possesses an active mind. Your brain is a muscle and writing is the best mental calisthenic of which I am aware!
You can’t play the piano just by reading music books and you can’t do math unless you actually work problems.
Samewise, to write you must write. Write letters, poems, your thoughts, descriptions of things, even silly stuff. Mother hung my sister’s prom dress in my closet. Is she telling me something? Or I just found that between 2:00 and 3:00 PM, my back door opens into someone else’s house! Don’t be afraid to rewrite, in fact you might try telling a story two or three times from different perspectives.
Try to keep some kind of writing schedule. Put a certain number of words down on paper every day or three times a week or whatever schedule with which you feel comfortable. Lastly, don’t worry whether or not you’re smart enough to be a writer. Somebody of average intelligence who writes every day has it over the genius who just never gets around to putting down thoughts because there’s always so much else to do.
Besides, in my experience someone who wants to write, likes to write and actually does write, usually possesses an active mind. Your brain is a muscle and writing is the best mental calisthenic of which I am aware!
Glynda Shaw
I’ve found a good way to deal with writer’s block is through talking with myself. Since I’m an introvert I do this on paper or more precisely, on silicon. In my personal journal I essentially ask myself what have I written about before then what would I like to write now.
When I have an idea I go on to ask myself what sort of characters do I want to introduce, in which person do I want to write; things like that.
Once underway, if I get stuck I talk with myself about a given scene or plot issue, what am I trying to accomplish here? Why is this person acting that way? What are some ways in which this situation could resolve?
Strangely enough, talking to myself about stuff I already know very often helps me discover things I didn’t think I knew (or maybe it gets a muse whispering into my ear), and I almost always come away from the process with more ideas than I had initially.
When I have an idea I go on to ask myself what sort of characters do I want to introduce, in which person do I want to write; things like that.
Once underway, if I get stuck I talk with myself about a given scene or plot issue, what am I trying to accomplish here? Why is this person acting that way? What are some ways in which this situation could resolve?
Strangely enough, talking to myself about stuff I already know very often helps me discover things I didn’t think I knew (or maybe it gets a muse whispering into my ear), and I almost always come away from the process with more ideas than I had initially.
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