Ask the Author: Shelley D Terrell
Answered Questions (6)
Shelley D Terrell
I got the idea for "Rag Dolls: Callie's Story" one evening as I sat on my front porch, right after we got back from vacation in Colorado. I am not sure what gave me the idea, other than we had been camping near a family with several children who ran free while their mother lay sleeping in her tent.
Shelley D Terrell
Although I write fiction, I tend to focus on social issues. Life inspires me to write. Every time I turn on the news, I see stories about people who are suffering due to the effects of alcohol, drugs and/or poverty. These are the subjects that touch my soul and inspire me to write.
Shelley D Terrell
I am currently working on "Rag Dolls: From the Ashes", the second book in the "Rag Dolls Series." I am planning to release it in December, 2014.
Shelley D Terrell
The best advice I could give anyone who wants to write is this: Just Do It--like the Nike commercial says. Just get in there and do it! Write whatever comes to your mind. Don't worry about mistakes or editing at first. Just write. Sometimes, when I am writing, I might think of a "wonderful" paragraph which doesn't yet belong in the place that I am in the story. I write it anyway, and save it until I get to a point in the story where I can use it. If I am fishing, or shopping or even sleeping and something "brilliant" (LOL) comes to me, I stop what I am doing and write it down--or I repeat it continuously until I am at a place where I can write it down. I am by no means a great or famous author, so I'm hardly the person to ask, but I do know this: the only sure way to fail is to never try.
Shelley D Terrell
I guess the best thing about being a writer for me is that it's an outlet--an escape from real life. I honestly get as involved in a book I am writing as I do a book I am reading. Since I don't use outlines and don't plan my manuscripts, I am just as surprised as everyone else about where the story goes. That keeps me entertained.
Shelley D Terrell
Writer's block is every author's nightmare. Luckily, I don't have to deal with it very often, but when I do, I try to force myself to write anyway; even if only for thirty minutes or so. If that doesn't work, I take a break. Usually, when I start a manuscript, I only have a basic idea in my head. I don't use outlines or anything else, and I never know where the story is going to go or how it's going to end; I just start writing. I find that the story will take on a life of it's own, and take twists and turns that even I don't expect. Because of that, if I can just get through the first chapter, the rest of the book kind of writes itself.
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