Ask the Author: Steve Dullum
Answered Questions (6)
Steve Dullum
While writing my first novel, I don't know if I ever had writer's block, meaning that I didn't now what to write. I always knew what I wanted to say, but some nights the words would struggle to come out. On those occasions I would just quit and hope for a more productive writing session the following night. Going forward, when that happens, I'm planning on working on a short story instead. I think that will help keep the creative process flowing.
Steve Dullum
Since I've achieved neither fame nor fortune, the best thing about being a writer for me is the personal satisfaction of creating something (hopefully unique and entertaining) that didn't exist before, like characters, settings, etc..
Steve Dullum
Stephen King said this, and I think he's absolutely correct. Read. A lot. I don't think you can be a writer, certainly not a good one, if you don't read. Reading is the best way to learn how to write. Reading a lot of Dean Koontz in my early years taught me a great deal about pacing, dialogue, and description, for example, and I wasn't even aware of it at the time. When I started writing years later, those elements seemed to come naturally to me, and I think it's because of all the reading I had done. Unconscious learning.
Steve Dullum
My second novel. I'm also learning (a little at a time) how to market my work. It's a steep learning curve, and is almost as difficult as learning how to write. But it's fun, too.
Steve Dullum
By going to my day job everyday! Also by reading great writers, which makes me want to improve my own writing.
Steve Dullum
I literally just sat down one night and started writing, with no clue what the story was going to be. After each chapter, I thought, "Hmm...I think this could happen next," and then I'd write that. Shortly after I started the book, I got a job working at a biotech company, and that provided me with the idea that became the plot of the story.
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