Ask the Author: Jennifer Templeman
Answered Questions (4)
Jennifer Templeman
My advice is simple: read and write.
Read everything you can get your hands on from novels and biographies, to newspaper articles and blog posts. Reading is a way to observe how other authors have been successful - to pick up tools that work, and to avoid pitfalls that won't be as well received.
Then there is no way around practicing the craft you want to develop. Not everything you write needs to be a story, but there are lessons to be learned in authoring an editorial, a review of another person's work, a persuasive e-mail, and of course, a full length novel. There is no way to get better without using the skills you are trying to build, so write freely and learn to enjoy the exercise of using words to capture moments, ideas and feelings, and then find a forum to share them with others.
Read everything you can get your hands on from novels and biographies, to newspaper articles and blog posts. Reading is a way to observe how other authors have been successful - to pick up tools that work, and to avoid pitfalls that won't be as well received.
Then there is no way around practicing the craft you want to develop. Not everything you write needs to be a story, but there are lessons to be learned in authoring an editorial, a review of another person's work, a persuasive e-mail, and of course, a full length novel. There is no way to get better without using the skills you are trying to build, so write freely and learn to enjoy the exercise of using words to capture moments, ideas and feelings, and then find a forum to share them with others.
Jennifer Templeman
Right now, I'm working on answering questions from readers. I'm taking a very short break from writing to read some of the books that have gotten pilled up next to my bed, and then I plan on jumping back into the third installment of the Killer Cup of Joe series in order to wrap up that trilogy.
Jennifer Templeman
I love this question, and even wrote a blog about it that was published on Goodreads ( https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...). Is it cheating to give this as my answer?
In my "other" job as a COO for a national non-profit, I would say it's just the wise stewardship of available resources, but I'm not sure that kind of jargon counts when discussing writer's block.
In reality, I'm trying to avoid saying, I eat copious amounts of chocolate or ice cream (better yet, chocolate ice cream) until my muse comes back to help me get through the block.
In my "other" job as a COO for a national non-profit, I would say it's just the wise stewardship of available resources, but I'm not sure that kind of jargon counts when discussing writer's block.
In reality, I'm trying to avoid saying, I eat copious amounts of chocolate or ice cream (better yet, chocolate ice cream) until my muse comes back to help me get through the block.
Jennifer Templeman
The most recent book is a sequel to A Killer Cup of Joe, my first novel. When I wrote the initial story, I knew it would take at least three installments to get the full scope of what I had in mind for Ellie (the main character) to grow through.
Where the full story came from is difficult to answer - I am very interested in female lead characters who are smart, underestimate their own strength, and are flawed in some way. I began noodling with the idea of writing a character like that, and Ellie just sort of came into my mind from that initial thought.
I also have to add that I have a slight addiction to coffee. When I decided to put fingers on keyboard, I had a rough idea of the main character and a cup of coffee and the rest, as they say, is history.
Where the full story came from is difficult to answer - I am very interested in female lead characters who are smart, underestimate their own strength, and are flawed in some way. I began noodling with the idea of writing a character like that, and Ellie just sort of came into my mind from that initial thought.
I also have to add that I have a slight addiction to coffee. When I decided to put fingers on keyboard, I had a rough idea of the main character and a cup of coffee and the rest, as they say, is history.
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