Ask the Author: Charles Vella
Answered Questions (2)
Charles Vella
Writing is more of a hobby to me than a business. That's not to say I wouldn't like to sell more of my novels, but one of the few advantages to not selling many is that there's no time pressure. Even if they do start selling, I think writing novels has inherently less pressure than writing to a deadline, and I think that pressure is what mostly drives writer's block.
I try to write every day with the modest goal of 500 words a day. There are days when it is very easy and days when I can't actually hit that goal, but I try to make sure that even on bad days I write something. I often find that I sit down and don't really feel like writing so I start reading through what I've already written and start editing. After a while I start to get into a rhythm and jump to a new section. These often turn out to be my most productive days.
I have a harder time with the blog that I try to keep up. The pieces there are shorter and I want to put something out every week. But to be honest I don't hold those to as high a standard as I do my novels and I intersperse new pieces with book reviews and announcements, so it isn't too bad.
I try to write every day with the modest goal of 500 words a day. There are days when it is very easy and days when I can't actually hit that goal, but I try to make sure that even on bad days I write something. I often find that I sit down and don't really feel like writing so I start reading through what I've already written and start editing. After a while I start to get into a rhythm and jump to a new section. These often turn out to be my most productive days.
I have a harder time with the blog that I try to keep up. The pieces there are shorter and I want to put something out every week. But to be honest I don't hold those to as high a standard as I do my novels and I intersperse new pieces with book reviews and announcements, so it isn't too bad.
Charles Vella
As an aspiring writer myself it's probably better to say what advice I've been given from people who have achieved some success. I think the best piece of advice, which seems obvious but is easy to ignore, is to keep writing. Not only does your writing get better with practice, but the more books you put out there the more likely people are to notice your writing. I think there is a temptation to write one book and then spend all of your time trying to market it, which is a mistake.
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