Ask the Author: S.M. Dougan
Answered Questions (6)
S.M. Dougan
Most of my writing has been in non-fiction; mostly technical stuff - articles for others without my name actually attached to the work. The inspiration for those pieces just comes from the topic and research on the subject. For my novels, I don't really have one source of inspiration. An idea will come to me and it will bounce around in my head for weeks, sometimes. If it is still floating around after several weeks, the plot has developed quite significantly by then, so it is just a matter of writing the story down.
S.M. Dougan
I have been fortunate in most of my writings that I have never really had to deal with writer's block. I tend to just write. I don't really care what I write as long as I write. If I am working on a novel, I know I will be going back over it many, many times doing rewrites and edits. The important part is to just get down the story in the first draft and not expect it to be anywhere near finished at that point. Once you give yourself permission to just write, write you will.
S.M. Dougan
You can create a group of people and tell the world about their lives in a way that others will find interesting and entertaining. It allows one to experience a life without having to commit to that life in the real world. The creative process is the best part.
S.M. Dougan
Writing is my favourite pass-time. I started writing when I was very young and was only just learning how to form a sentence. I wrote my mother a note when I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade that simply said, "When I grow up I am going to be a writer". The best piece of advice I can give is to stick with it: Write for the sake of writing and don't do it as a way to make money. Someone once said, "the only way to make money writing is through ransom notes." That pretty much sums it up. Write for the pure joy of writing: Write for yourself. If it sells, that is a bonus.
S.M. Dougan
I have three new titles that I am working on in various stages of completion. The first is a narrative non-fiction about my journey with bladder cancer. One is a twist on dna mapping. The third is a twist on the current terrorist scenarios.
S.M. Dougan
I get the ideas for my writing from a variety of sources, but probably the most common source is through the discovery channel, and pbs. Science has always fascinated me and asking the question 'what if ...' when I have seen a program on an interesting subject prompts ideas for plots.
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