Ask the Author: Will Sterling
Answered Questions (6)
Will Sterling
Fame by Misadventure was heavily inspired by the people I met during my tenure as a podcast producer and later as director of production at a major podcast network. I had to cut a lot of content in order to keep people safe, to protect images, and to avoid payback, all at the cost of an individuals real truth or beliefs. The paycheck and job spoke louder than the host or guest's true feelings. But isn't the often the case for us all. More than this though was the humanity I saw in all these people, people the rest of the world often considers consumable and worthy of being discarded or mocked or looked down on. The world that FBM lives in isn't one I am actually a "fan" of. I don't watch these types of shows or worship this type of network or the man behind it all. And so I wanted to present that world as I saw it, raw and vulnerable, shaky and unsure, strong but also so incredibly vulnerable. I saw first hand what our media and entertainment consumption did to people and I did not like what I saw. As much as I want to entertain I also want to warn.
Will Sterling
The surreal achievement of generating an idea entirely in the mind and, step by step, materializing it into physical reality. Just to hold the book in my hands is an astounding accomplishment. In so many ways, it feels quantum and other worldly. If I wish to access this realm and feel this way again, I must keep writing. In this way it is done almost entirely for me, not for others. Its existence is an exciting byproduct of my personal discipline, but were it not for my magic, the spell I cast in doing the work, others would not feel themselves transported. That is rewarding and unlike any other experience on earth.
Will Sterling
I listen to a lot of movie scores and let my mind wander. I read good writing AND bad writing and challenge myself to know the difference, then find my place likely somewhere in between. I am motivated by others success as well as my own, a little healthy competition goes a long way. And I am constantly aware that today could be my last day on earth, I hate to think I'd leave this place not having said all I wanted to say.
Will Sterling
Editing an ancient manuscript, my first ever completed book, about the life story of a dear friend of mine. Hollywood, Madison Avenue, drugs, sex, prison, he lived a wild life.
Will Sterling
Read more than you watch and write more than you speak. Throw away your idea of what your life will look like as a writer and just do the goddam thing. You are a writer if that is what you actively do each day, otherwise you are an idealist.
Will Sterling
Consider it a trap and you've been caught. You're bound, so to speak, by this thing; tied to an emotional chair. The only way to escape is to write. You must stare at the blank document. You are allowed to do nothing else, no internet, no social media, etc. If you know that the only way to escape the trap is to write, and you know the demands beyond that exercise are low, i.e. what you write needn't even be particularly good or lengthy, then you must get to work. You break free of the block the way the sculptor reveals from their block the statue underneath, by chipping away. Freedom from this bondage isn't necessarily pretty, but once you are free you will find that in this destitute state you had surprisingly managed to cobble together a few helpful sentences and points of view. Suffering yields interesting perspectives. Suffer as you must but break free. These perspectives are now building blocks to find your voice again.
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