Ask the Author: Lisa Francesca
Answered Questions (4)
Lisa Francesca
I have accumulated about a hundred books about California's history and geology, maybe fifty more about housekeeping, and several binders of family papers. I'm feeling drawn to the turn of the last century, pondering what it might be like to be an East Coast publisher's daughter brought out to run a California ranch. That said, it is still largely unformed and quite a mystery to me.
Lisa Francesca
Carry pens and a small notebook. Keep a notebook for whatever project you're working on. Keep a journal (not the same thing). Write letters. Read at night. Read in the bathroom. Read on your lunch break. Haunt used bookstores. Write fan letters to authors. Go to author readings. Go to the free readings at your local college. Allow yourself time to think. Allow yourself to have emptiness. Walk, walk everywhere. Sweep floors, fold laundry, swim, rake, wash dishes, and allow ideas to come. Enjoy them when they come and jot them down. Do not be afraid. Ignore your inner editor for a couple of years until you get the hang of writing steadily. Befriend your creative self and become best friends forever.
Lisa Francesca
The best thing about being a writer is that I get to live my life many different times over and with different points of view and potential outcomes. A simple expedition to the coast, for example, is the fodder for several anticipatory daydreams and maybe a few nightmares. As I actually live through an event, I search for better words to describe what I'm doing or what's happening. And afterward I relive it, whether I write about it or not. This is also absolutely the worst thing about being a writer. I think it's called obsession.
Lisa Francesca
A friend once gave me a wooden block the size of a large fist. She had painted it yellow, added a pink flower and green stem, and in black, she painted "Lisa's Writer's Block" across two sides. I make sure it is in every office I write in. As long as it's out there, it isn't in me.
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