Ask the Author: Andrea Weir
Answered Questions (7)
Andrea Weir
Nick and Nora Charles (of "The Thin Man" by Dashiell Hammet). They clearly love, admire, respect and support one another and they do so with humor and sensitivity.
Andrea Weir
Being able to create and inhabit my own world; asking "what if" questions and playing out possible scenarios to see what resonates.
Creating characters can be a lot like trying on different personas and seeing how they respond to different situations. It's all a fascinating exploration.
Creating characters can be a lot like trying on different personas and seeing how they respond to different situations. It's all a fascinating exploration.
Andrea Weir
I have always been interested in the breadth and depth of human emotion and how our emotions manifest themselves in our actions and choices. And that many of our choices stem from the losses we've experienced and the consequent subconscious need to protect ourselves. For a long time, I wanted to explore the theme of motherless children — rooted in my own experience, no doubt — and decided to do so through fiction.
Andrea Weir
When I'm having trouble writing, I do something else. Something mindless. I give my subconscious a chance to work on the issue. I may go for a run, take my dog out for a walk, channel surf on TV, peruse news sites on the Web. Sometimes I clean my house. While I'm doing any of those things, I think about what I want to write – in very general terms. What usually happens is one sentence or a snippet of dialogue will pop into my head and that will knock the block out of the way. I think the worst thing to do when the words aren't flowing is to panic.
I'm not really a disciplined writer — I don't have a set amount of time per day or a set number of pages. I may write nothing one day, and 50 pages the next. But I'm always ready.
I'm not really a disciplined writer — I don't have a set amount of time per day or a set number of pages. I may write nothing one day, and 50 pages the next. But I'm always ready.
Andrea Weir
Maybe it sounds strange, but nothing particularly inspires me to write. I write because I have this deep-seated need to put words on paper. Some particular theme catches me and I want to explore it. And as I'm writing, I never know where a story is going. It sort of unfolds in front of me.
Andrea Weir
I'm working on the sequel to "A Foolish Consistency." I don't have a working title, but it continues to follow Callie and Will (and the other characters). It introduces some new names and faces and situations, and explores another set of universal themes. False assumptions figure prominently.
Andrea Weir
Just do it. It's the only way to hone your skills. And read the work of other writers. Pay attention to how they play with words. Don't copy their style, but incorporate what resonates with you into your own work. That's how you develop your own voice.
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