Ask the Author: S.R. Wilsher
Answered Questions (7)
S.R. Wilsher
Hi Annie,
I no longer have a website, I'm afraid. When the original host company was sold, my site didn't migrate successfully, and I haven't created a new one. To be frank, I didn't think anyone would notice!
If you have a particular query, I'm happy to answer it on here, or email me direct; info@srwilsher.com
All the best
Simon
I no longer have a website, I'm afraid. When the original host company was sold, my site didn't migrate successfully, and I haven't created a new one. To be frank, I didn't think anyone would notice!
If you have a particular query, I'm happy to answer it on here, or email me direct; info@srwilsher.com
All the best
Simon
S.R. Wilsher
Because I don’t make a living as a writer, I tend not to think of myself as one and so find that difficult to answer. But writing itself is a release that allows me to make sense of the ideas that form in my head, and I love solving the puzzles those thoughts create; to be able to build something from nothing.
The downside is that because it’s such an insular world where I spend so much time living in my own head, I think it’s tough on those around you. It also means that the ‘real’ job gets side-lined.
The downside is that because it’s such an insular world where I spend so much time living in my own head, I think it’s tough on those around you. It also means that the ‘real’ job gets side-lined.
S.R. Wilsher
The Collection of Heng Souk came from a conversation with my mother. I don’t remember my father well as he died when I was young, and was away at sea for long periods with the Navy anyway. But my mother told me that he was once shot at taking a gunboat upriver during the Korean War. She didn’t know much more, but the story grew from that.
I saw a previously unseen picture of my late father for the first time recently and the idea for another novel filled my head almost instantly.
I saw a previously unseen picture of my late father for the first time recently and the idea for another novel filled my head almost instantly.
S.R. Wilsher
It can be a scene/moment from real life or drama, a song lyric or some other writing. It will prompt an idea and I then see what story can be spun out of it. I think of it like a puzzle that I have to make sense of. Writing is a great way of developing some of those random thoughts and writing them down seems the ordered thing to do.
Also, if I read something I feel is poorly written then it encourages me to write. If I read a great book, then it encourages me to edit!
The reason I started writing was only ever to see a printed version of my book being read somewhere. It would be the final piece of solving the puzzle that writing is to me. I keep going because then I haven’t failed.
Also, if I read something I feel is poorly written then it encourages me to write. If I read a great book, then it encourages me to edit!
The reason I started writing was only ever to see a printed version of my book being read somewhere. It would be the final piece of solving the puzzle that writing is to me. I keep going because then I haven’t failed.
S.R. Wilsher
I have two books on the go at the moment. I like to have more than one so that it doesn’t become too intense. I have a MG story that I’m getting into shape for release. It’s being read by a group of children of varying ages so that I pitch it at the right age group when it’s released. When my daughter was younger she always liked me to freestyle stories to her at night, so this one – The Time Key – grew from that.
I’m also working on an adult story, ‘was played by Walter Johns’. It’s about the way that we are all pretending all of the time; often playing a part even to ourselves. It’s essentially the whodunit of a young man in a coma reviewing his last few days trying to establish who put him in hospital. Walter Johns is an irascible old actor he had met a few days earlier, and I’m really enjoying funneling every politically incorrect thought I’m having through his mouth.
I’m also working on an adult story, ‘was played by Walter Johns’. It’s about the way that we are all pretending all of the time; often playing a part even to ourselves. It’s essentially the whodunit of a young man in a coma reviewing his last few days trying to establish who put him in hospital. Walter Johns is an irascible old actor he had met a few days earlier, and I’m really enjoying funneling every politically incorrect thought I’m having through his mouth.
S.R. Wilsher
Read and write as much as you can, whenever you can. And don’t wait for inspiration to strike otherwise you might never start. Make it happen. Just put words on the page and see where it leads. You don’t have to use them, and anyway the editing is where a story really develops..
But don’t be in too much of a hurry to publish. If you get published traditionally early on then that’s great. But be wary of self-publishing quickly. I’m grateful that e-publishing was not available when I first started as I’d be severely embarrassed to think my early writing might be read now.
Mostly though, don’t take too much advice (including this) – it kills originality, and novel writing should be a committee-free zone.
But don’t be in too much of a hurry to publish. If you get published traditionally early on then that’s great. But be wary of self-publishing quickly. I’m grateful that e-publishing was not available when I first started as I’d be severely embarrassed to think my early writing might be read now.
Mostly though, don’t take too much advice (including this) – it kills originality, and novel writing should be a committee-free zone.
S.R. Wilsher
I don’t really suffer. I can be lazy and avoid sitting down to write but I don’t feel that’s being blocked. Because I don’t write full-time I usually have notes and ideas that can help get me started, and as I find the first five minutes of any session are always the hardest, I’ll normally just sit down and use my notes to try and work through those. I also always have more than one story on the go, because if I’m devoid of inspiration for one I’ll get on with another. If I’m still struggling with everything then I’ll usually edit because, for me, that’s often the best time to do it.
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