Ask the Author: Elise Abram
Answered Questions (2)
Elise Abram
I find that putting something away for a few days, weeks, or even months before returning to it is an effective method for dealing with writer's block. While, at first glance, this sounds like procrastination and avoidance, it's not. In the time I'm away from the computer I think about what I've written and imagine all possibilities as to where it might go. Eventually, I work it out (sometimes even in my sleep or when I wake up to roll over in the middle of the night before I fall back asleep). If I give the ideas time to percolate, eventually they do and when that happens, I keep writing until the next bout of writer's block rears it's ugly head.
Elise Abram
In writing THE REVENANT, I started out wanting to write a vampire story, but couldn't figure out how to differentiate it from what was already out there. Whenever I get stuck, I do research, which is where I stumbled upon the idea of the revenant, a term usually used to describe someone who returns after a long absence. This is tied to vampires because stories, both of vampires and revenants, abound in historic lore involving people who had died but were reported being seen after death. When villagers dug up the bodies, they were often bloated and ruddy. Because they had no knowledge of the decomposition process, people assumed it was because they had been up and feeding. Revenants were thought to return from the dead to terrorize friends and family. They were also said to have died under violent circumstances and come back to complete unfinished business. Because little else is known about revenants as supernatural creatures, I was able to mould them into pretty much whatever I wanted.
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