Ask the Author: S. Lee Benedict
Answered Questions (6)
S. Lee Benedict
I don't get blocked too often. I procrastinate quite a bit, but I don't get blocked. One thing that helps me is organization. Some writers don't plan anything out, but I always start out with at least a basic outline in place. And I find that, once I'm writing a scene, ideas start appearing in my head. It really is as if the book writes itself rather than the other way around. The characters direct me by their needs just as much as where I, as the author, need the scene to go. There are two types of writers: pantsers and plotters. Some people swear by "pantsing" (as in, writing by the "seat of your pants"), just start writing and go where it takes you. That may work for some, but it definitely wouldn't work for me. I think that's a surefire way to get blocked. I'm a plotter, and as long as I know where the story's going, I can usually find a way there.
S. Lee Benedict
So far, for me, it's the act of creation. I love looking at my book and saying, I made this. I put something creative into the world, and it's always going to be there. In his opus, The Dark Tower, Stephen King inserted himself into the narrative as a character. In doing this, King was acknowledging that, when you write, it's almost as if your characters actually exist somewhere. And it does feel like that. I can almost imagine there's a world where Ezra Keene, Emma Higginbotham and the Leichnam family exist. I love that. Also, it's an amazing feeling to know that someone enjoyed something you wrote. Even if it's just one person. That's the best.
S. Lee Benedict
The best advice I can offer is to write without self-editing at first. Just put words on the page. It doesn't matter whether its any good or not in the beginning. Nobody's first draft is very good. I found that the key for me to finishing my first book was to ignore that voice that told me that word wasn't a good choice or this scene doesn't make any sense or doesn't belong. When writing a first draft, I never go back and edit anything, not until it's all on the page. What really helped me with this was NaNoWriMo. Because the goal is to write 50k words in one month, it really forces you to just keep writing like a train barreling through a snow storm. I put blinders on and just wrote and came out with something that was workable.
S. Lee Benedict
I'm currently working on pulling together a short story compilation, which is almost done. I'm also working on the second book in my paranormal urban fantasy series, which will be titled The Undead Realm.
S. Lee Benedict
I find a great deal of inspiration in the creative endeavors of others. Other books, movies, television, art. I'm a great lover of story, and I consume it in all its forms. One thing I do is scour the internet for art. I create Pinterest boards full of things that inspire me, separated into boards for each project I'm working on or planning. It's a lot of fun and really helps to create a world in my mind. Also, the act of writing is sometimes inspiring as well. I often find that, while I'm writing, I'm energized to keep going. It's when I'm not writing that I think of excuses and find distractions that keep me from it.
S. Lee Benedict
The idea for The Heart Thief started with this question: What if Frankenstein's monster had a family, and what if that family lived in the suburbs? Now, that thought germinated and transformed (drastically) over a period of several months and ultimately became something that only barely resembles what the book is about. But it all started with the question and morphed from there.
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