Ask the Author: Jan Merry
Answered Questions (4)
Jan Merry
I have been participating in the Reading Around Australia Challenge, so that has kept me busy with Australian authors from the Outback to the coast, both west and east. This has taken me well out of my comfort zone and has been very rewarding to dip into stories from Canberra, Northern Territory and South Australia. Now on my northern hemisphere summer reading list is a select of mainly short stories, starting with the Penguin, Best Australuan Short Stories. This is a chronological collection starting in 1859. Happy reading all.
Jan Merry
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Jan Merry
Having time to myself is one bonus of being a writer, but you have to like your own company and enjoy being alone. Some people find that difficult. Research is also enlightening and interesting, if time-consuming. I can spend hours looking through photographs, exploring locations and reading historical documents and it all adds sustenance to ideas.
Jan Merry
I don't experience writer's block so much as being uninspired by what I have written. Is that the same thing? I'm not sure. Sometimes I write all morning and then give up in disgust thinking, "that is just rubbish". Then I take a break and go walking or do some photography or sewing or prepare dinner and come back the next day and start again, usually working on a whole different subject. Now that I think about it, once I've concluded a topic is a non-starter, I don't go back to it but start anew.
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