Ask the Author: Randall Allen Dunn
Answered Questions (3)
Randall Allen Dunn
The massive scorpions raced down the sandy hill toward Julio, their pincers clicking in anticipation. Julio's heart pounded as he dove into the frigid ocean and swam to a safe distance, to turn and watch the mutant creatures littering the shore as he waited for the volcano to erupt.
Randall Allen Dunn
Right now, I'm writing the sequel to The Red Rider, called Red Rider Revolution. There's a lot of exciting revelations and action in it, similar to all the added revelations that came out in the 2nd Harry Potter book, Chamber of Secrets. Life got in the way a lot this year, but I'm pushing to still release it by the end of 2017, as promised. (:^D
Randall Allen Dunn
I don't. There actually is no such thing as writer's block. However, many people are impacted by what I call "perfectionist's paralysis". If I told these people to write their name, their age, where they live, etc., they could do it, so it's not that they cannot write anything. It's that they're paralyzed by the gripping fear that what they write won't be good enough.
I felt this paralysis when I started writing my first sequel. I knew exactly what would happen in the story and was excited for it, and even had a few opening chapters written out. But when I sat to actually write it, I felt a sense of dread. I loved the first book, The Red Rider, and so did many others, and I feared I couldn't make the sequel at least as good, in the story, characters, writing style - anything. But I took a breath and started writing it, anyway, knowing it might be awful - as all first drafts are.
The way I overcome perfectionist's paralysis is to write. If necessary, I write something meaningless, like my name or what you did today, or I start typing out old story notes I never transcribed, to get started. Then I prepare myself to write something bad, if I'm still stuck. If I expect it to be bad, anyway, there's no pressure. Once I start writing and get past that roadblock of fear, I quickly re-discover my passion for the story.
I felt this paralysis when I started writing my first sequel. I knew exactly what would happen in the story and was excited for it, and even had a few opening chapters written out. But when I sat to actually write it, I felt a sense of dread. I loved the first book, The Red Rider, and so did many others, and I feared I couldn't make the sequel at least as good, in the story, characters, writing style - anything. But I took a breath and started writing it, anyway, knowing it might be awful - as all first drafts are.
The way I overcome perfectionist's paralysis is to write. If necessary, I write something meaningless, like my name or what you did today, or I start typing out old story notes I never transcribed, to get started. Then I prepare myself to write something bad, if I'm still stuck. If I expect it to be bad, anyway, there's no pressure. Once I start writing and get past that roadblock of fear, I quickly re-discover my passion for the story.
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