Ask the Author: Lynette Washington
Answered Questions (5)
Lynette Washington
Write, write, and write.
If you have nothing to say, but you know you want to write, patiently learn your craft so that when you have something you want to say, the tools will already be there.
If you have nothing to say, but you know you want to write, patiently learn your craft so that when you have something you want to say, the tools will already be there.
Lynette Washington
On a good day - everything.
On a bad day - it's the pits.
I love the freedom to work from home, at my own pace. I love that my day can be unstructured or completely structured, depending on my mood.
I love that I feel like I'm doing something worthwhile and meaningful with my life. I love the feeling that comes when the words come out and make sense. Better than that, I love the feeling of reading back something I wrote a long time ago (and have almost forgotten) and thinking 'that's actually pretty good'.
That's the good days.
The bad days it's all self-doubt and poverty.
On a bad day - it's the pits.
I love the freedom to work from home, at my own pace. I love that my day can be unstructured or completely structured, depending on my mood.
I love that I feel like I'm doing something worthwhile and meaningful with my life. I love the feeling that comes when the words come out and make sense. Better than that, I love the feeling of reading back something I wrote a long time ago (and have almost forgotten) and thinking 'that's actually pretty good'.
That's the good days.
The bad days it's all self-doubt and poverty.
Lynette Washington
I don't believe in writer's block! I believe in writer's doubt. I think it's doubt that blocks us - doubt that we are good enough, that we have anything worth saying, that anyone will ever want to read what we write.
My solution to that problem is to write uncensored. For me first drafts are always uncensored. I don't question myself as I write, I just dump it all on the page. Raymond Chandler is reported to have said, “Throw up into your typewriter every morning. Clean up every noon.” This is a policy I live by! It does lead to enormous, and sometimes very ugly clean-ups, but I never suffer from writer's block!
My solution to that problem is to write uncensored. For me first drafts are always uncensored. I don't question myself as I write, I just dump it all on the page. Raymond Chandler is reported to have said, “Throw up into your typewriter every morning. Clean up every noon.” This is a policy I live by! It does lead to enormous, and sometimes very ugly clean-ups, but I never suffer from writer's block!
Lynette Washington
The idea for Breaking Beauty came about because I'd seen similar collections published by postgrad students and was impressed by the quality of their writing. I knew that we had amazing writers in the University of Adelaide postgrad Creative Writing group and wanted to show those brilliant, talented writers to the world.
Lynette Washington
I'm currently working on finishing my PhD, and I'm polishing up my short story collection, which will be published in 2017.
I have an idea for a novel burning to be written, but that's on hold for the moment.
I have an idea for a novel burning to be written, but that's on hold for the moment.
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