Ask the Author: G.M. Potter
Answered Questions (6)
G.M. Potter
It's not the money or the fame. I have neither. If I ever do, it will be the last thing that I want to concern myself with. Both are the two things that trip up a writer, especially in the beginning, when that's all we think about as some form of inspiration. The best thing about being a writer, for me, is writing. Is hearing the words pour out of my brain. Is seeing the story created in front of me, and not knowing, even if my life depended on it, where it came from.
G.M. Potter
I was inspired to write a long time ago. But on a daily basis, I often open my journal and write, without editing, and without reason. There is always a story idea in my head and eventually some part of it comes out while my pen is scribbling across the paper. I don't even stop. I simply open up the idea my mind is concerned with and I write some more. Eventually, all my stories come together on the paper this way.
G.M. Potter
I'm working on the second collection of short stories as an extension of the artistic experiment I began with the first. A collection of twelve stories all connected by theme. I'm not ready to discuss the theme, per se, but I believe this artistic experiment is working for me.
G.M. Potter
I am old-school when it comes to advice about writing. I can't help it. The advice I give to someone is the same advice I give to myself. Write. And then, write some more. Keep writing, whether it is a creative grocery list for your girlfriend, or an impudent bon mot to the electric company on their bill. Writer's write. This is the strongest advice I could give. The second is, put your butt in the chair and write something.
G.M. Potter
I haven't really suffered writer's block, as far as I know. Unless, of course, by definition, Writer's Block is when the circumstances and events of your life consume you so totally that the thought of writing something is painful. Once the issues and chaos subside, and some time has passed, I usually open up the journal I keep. I've been keeping one for several decades and I always find my 'writer's mind' after a few minutes or even a few sessions with the journal. Surprisingly, that is when my best ideas for story come to me. As if they were waiting for me to return.
G.M. Potter
I knew I wanted to concentrate on the Short Story. I had a few ideas for novels but the enormity of starting one was too overwhelming for me. I wanted to put together, instead, an artistic experiment whereby the stories in the collection were connected somehow, in this case theme. As to where I found the them for Clowns and Buffoons: Short Stories, I couldn't tell you. The idea simply came to me as if I were receiving an anonymous mental email.
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