Ask the Author: Jen Lynn Anderson
Answered Questions (3)
Jen Lynn Anderson
The short answer is: not very well.
I recently wrote a blog post that slightly touches on this. It's more about distractions, and how it's sometimes easy for indie-publishing authors (myself included) to get lost in the marketing side of the process, without leaving much room for the actual writing. As a digital marketing manager in my day job, that definitely resonates, because I find myself bombarded by digital messages 8 hours a day, and it's hard to break from those distractions after your workday is over. I'll find myself doing something drastic if I feel like I'm getting stuck in the digital mire, like switching to my typewriter to really focus for awhile. Clearing away the distractions (easier said than done, of course!) can help get me back in the zone, and avoiding the distractions as a crutch when you already have writer's block is equally as important.
But with regards to writer's block in general, I have made it a practice to jump out of where I'm stuck (if it's a scene or a dialogue exchange) and put my character(s) in a completely new and different situation. It doesn't even have to make sense to the rest of the story. Just get them out of where they are, and see what happens. See how they react. Revisiting your characters is critical. They can tell you a lot, and a lot you weren't expecting. Oftentimes, I can glean some sort of insight into their story arc from their behavior in this new and strange situation. It recently happened with one of my characters, who I felt was too flat and one-dimensional, and thus was avoiding writing scenes for him. I plopped him into a completely different place, gave him something to do, and learned a lot about him in the process. So I'll say it again... if you're stuck, revisit your characters.
I recently wrote a blog post that slightly touches on this. It's more about distractions, and how it's sometimes easy for indie-publishing authors (myself included) to get lost in the marketing side of the process, without leaving much room for the actual writing. As a digital marketing manager in my day job, that definitely resonates, because I find myself bombarded by digital messages 8 hours a day, and it's hard to break from those distractions after your workday is over. I'll find myself doing something drastic if I feel like I'm getting stuck in the digital mire, like switching to my typewriter to really focus for awhile. Clearing away the distractions (easier said than done, of course!) can help get me back in the zone, and avoiding the distractions as a crutch when you already have writer's block is equally as important.
But with regards to writer's block in general, I have made it a practice to jump out of where I'm stuck (if it's a scene or a dialogue exchange) and put my character(s) in a completely new and different situation. It doesn't even have to make sense to the rest of the story. Just get them out of where they are, and see what happens. See how they react. Revisiting your characters is critical. They can tell you a lot, and a lot you weren't expecting. Oftentimes, I can glean some sort of insight into their story arc from their behavior in this new and strange situation. It recently happened with one of my characters, who I felt was too flat and one-dimensional, and thus was avoiding writing scenes for him. I plopped him into a completely different place, gave him something to do, and learned a lot about him in the process. So I'll say it again... if you're stuck, revisit your characters.
Jen Lynn Anderson
First up is a travel memoir of a volunteer experience in Moshi, Tanzania. It includes conversations about international volunteering, culture sharing, community building, and what "home" means to different people in different places. Please visit my Kickstarter page for more information: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
I'm diligently working on the novel I plan to publish first, a story that I began during National Novel Writing Month (November 2015), called "The Bearers." http://jenlynnanderson.com/novels/the...
I'm diligently working on the novel I plan to publish first, a story that I began during National Novel Writing Month (November 2015), called "The Bearers." http://jenlynnanderson.com/novels/the...
Jen Lynn Anderson
Believe it or not, the basic concept came out of the weirdest dream I've had in a while. I dreamed I walked through a portal in the middle of nowhere and ended up in an alternate reality, with orange skies and a concave horizon and water that flowed about six feet above the ground. It was the weirdest thing. I woke up and immediately wrote down as much as I could remember about that place. And then started thinking, "Who would live here?" "Why would they live here, if they could go back and forth between this place and the Earth we know?"
During National Novel Writing Month 2015, I expanded those ideas into a world-building exercise, and an entire civilization was born. And then I imagined what would happen if there was a group on the "Earth" side of the portal that had been locked out of the "Otherside" and was trying to get back in. And meanwhile, both groups were targeting people in "Earth-side" for their own individual reasons... some good, and some not so good. And out of that conflict I found my heroes, Ryan and Ava, both polar opposites but both caught in circumstances beyond their control and beyond their wildest imaginings... but both determined to do something about that. And now I'm almost done with the first draft of "The Bearers." For more information on that novel and how it's progressing you can visit: http://jenlynnanderson.com/novels/the...
So, the moral of this story is... do not, under any circumstances, ignore what comes into your head in the night.
During National Novel Writing Month 2015, I expanded those ideas into a world-building exercise, and an entire civilization was born. And then I imagined what would happen if there was a group on the "Earth" side of the portal that had been locked out of the "Otherside" and was trying to get back in. And meanwhile, both groups were targeting people in "Earth-side" for their own individual reasons... some good, and some not so good. And out of that conflict I found my heroes, Ryan and Ava, both polar opposites but both caught in circumstances beyond their control and beyond their wildest imaginings... but both determined to do something about that. And now I'm almost done with the first draft of "The Bearers." For more information on that novel and how it's progressing you can visit: http://jenlynnanderson.com/novels/the...
So, the moral of this story is... do not, under any circumstances, ignore what comes into your head in the night.
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