Ask the Author: Nancy Ann Healy
Answered Questions (2)
Nancy Ann Healy
Creating. Imagining. Sharing. There are stories inside all of us. I have a constant flow of ideas and stories that roll through my thoughts. I love to watch people and imagine what a stranger's story might be. Writing allows me to explore places, times, experiences, relationships, and emotions that I may never experience in my own life. It also allows me to investigate my own emotions and ideas through perspectives that differ from mine. One of the greatest joys, for me, is creating characters who are layered, and who have dramatically different back stories from each other, and from my own life. Taking those characters and immersing them into a situation and discovering how each responds to the same situation is exhilarating. Writing is constant exploration. Writing and sharing also creates connection. It is fascinating to listen to readers express how they have responded to characters and plots. Everyone perceives a story and each character in a unique way. Discussion with readers always intrigues me and inspires me. It often touches me and challenges me to think in new ways. That, in its own way, feeds the creative process. Too many things to name. Writing is taking a journey. That is what life is all about....journeys.
Nancy Ann Healy
Personally, I just try to write through it. Many times writer's block is more about not "feeling" the story; at least for me. Things are not flowing. The well feels dry. Many times I regard my writing as "stale" in these periods. Sometimes, they indicate a need to step away and I do. Most times, I step back and try to write something completely different. I might listen to some music, read a bit, take a walk, and then I write about what I felt; almost like writing in a journal. It often helps to just get the natural flow back. The worst thing for me is forcing myself, or berating myself for feeling "stuck". That only deepens and prolongs the problem. I've learned to listen to my gut; my heart. Writer's block is not a curse. It is sometimes a necessity. It's a pause. And, writing, like life requires those every so often. Some of the best ideas and the greatest lessons are formed during the pauses.
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