Ask the Author: W.S. Ishida
Answered Questions (6)
W.S. Ishida
Initially, I was asked to record someone's memoirs for posterity. But after 9 hours of engrossing audio-recorded interviews, I started to see the potential for it to form the basis of a novel. Therefore Goodbye to Ribbons is largely based on true events.
W.S. Ishida
I have a few projects that are just about at the finished first draft stage, soon I must decide which one I will throw myself into fully to get it to the final draft stage. As soon as I have committed to a course I will let it be known, but for now, I'm keeping them under wraps.
W.S. Ishida
The thrill of seeing a project come together. The journey of creating. The satisfaction of creation. I like to create and make things and I can be very particular about how I want them to turn out, and with writing, you can be the writer, the director, the casting director, the costume designer, the set designer of your story. There is no budget, no limits, no restrictions - you are the master of your own ship and you can set sail for any destination you wish.
W.S. Ishida
Write. Just keep writing. Most of us need to get a lot of bad writing out of your systems first before we start to improve. Go back over your old writing and hopefully you should cringe a little bit and know how you could easily improve it - if you don't cringe at your own writing in the early days then either you're a fully-fledged genius or your not writing and reading enough to improve.
Share. Don't be scared to share your work. Too many aspiring writers either worry about the feedback or worry about other people stealing their ideas. But without feedback, you are shouting into a void. And stealing ideas is part of writing, we all steal from Shakespeare, our favourite author, the bible even. And anyway, it should be your style of writing, your unique voice that stands you apart, not your ideas so much how you present and portray your ideas. You have to reach the point where you feel confident that only you could've written your ideas in the way you do.
Share. Don't be scared to share your work. Too many aspiring writers either worry about the feedback or worry about other people stealing their ideas. But without feedback, you are shouting into a void. And stealing ideas is part of writing, we all steal from Shakespeare, our favourite author, the bible even. And anyway, it should be your style of writing, your unique voice that stands you apart, not your ideas so much how you present and portray your ideas. You have to reach the point where you feel confident that only you could've written your ideas in the way you do.
W.S. Ishida
Life. Travel. Saying yes to every opportunity presented, as it leads to experiencing new aspects of life and a great variety of things that are all important in filling up the inspiration tanks.
Also, people watching, being observant and interested in even the smallest things or interactions. Being a magpie, collecting shiny bits of information, being a squirrel in storing them away for the future.
Allowing myself to get lost in daydreams. Speaking to people, everyone has at least one funny, one sad, one unbelievable annecdote.
Also, people watching, being observant and interested in even the smallest things or interactions. Being a magpie, collecting shiny bits of information, being a squirrel in storing them away for the future.
Allowing myself to get lost in daydreams. Speaking to people, everyone has at least one funny, one sad, one unbelievable annecdote.
W.S. Ishida
Probably not the answer other writers like to hear, but I suffer from the opposite problem - I have too many ideas that I want to write, too many projects I want to start. Therefore, if I hit a block in one particular project, I put it away for a while and concentrate on another.
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