“Hold on to the heart of what first makes you want to tell a story—that seed of inspiration, that character that haunts you, the moments you long to crystallize and bring to life. My goal is to couple that holding on with a practice of staying loose and softened and humble—remembering that the task is about questions, not answers.”
Is a writer someone who does not write every day? Or even every week? (GASP) Then I am not a writer. A "spurt writer", I call myself. I write when the mood strikes or an idea keeps biting my ankle and won't let go, or sometimes when I'm just plain ashamed of myself for being so lazy. Despite all this I've somehow managed to write a dozen MG and YA novels (thirteen counting my adult novel, Call It A Gift.) Spurt writers can blitz when they want to, or need to--meeting a deadline for revision, for example. I love writing. I'm never more alive than when I'm caught up in a character's life, going places I haven't been or didn't know I was going. I've just finished The Last Best Days Of Summer which will debut in the Spring of 2010, another Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux book. Frances has been my editor since 1998 and I hope she always will be. She's simply amazing.
2 comments:
Val, the link's not working...
Imagine Border collies herding sheep into the actual figure of a sheep and the sheep walking across the hills.
I am an absolute bust when it comes to adding links. Sorry!
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