Ask the Author: Daniel Stern
Answered Questions (3)
Daniel Stern
for me, it's creating something concrete. there is an object i've created that is distinct from myself and that can, in theory, live on forever. i don't seek immortality on any level. but it's cool to think i created something that could live on indefinitely.
Daniel Stern
two quotes i like about writer's block:
when chuck palahniuk was asked this same question, he said something to the effect of, "when you don't have to take a shit, do you sit on the toilet?" i side with that sentiment. if the well's run dry, you need to fill it up. i do that by living life. i go to the gym or jog or grocery shop or pay bills or clean or read or hang with friends. non-writing activities allow my creativity to marinate and rest and give my subconscious time to untangle whatever it's wrestling with.
the second quote comes from john green: "coal miners don't get coal miner's block."
while palahniuk's quote gives a writer permission not to write, green's says to keep at it. for me, the answer resides somewhere in the middle. i need to be a stern taskmaster, as my book won't write itself. but i can't write if i don't have something to write about. so, when i have material, i write. when i don't, i seek it out.
when chuck palahniuk was asked this same question, he said something to the effect of, "when you don't have to take a shit, do you sit on the toilet?" i side with that sentiment. if the well's run dry, you need to fill it up. i do that by living life. i go to the gym or jog or grocery shop or pay bills or clean or read or hang with friends. non-writing activities allow my creativity to marinate and rest and give my subconscious time to untangle whatever it's wrestling with.
the second quote comes from john green: "coal miners don't get coal miner's block."
while palahniuk's quote gives a writer permission not to write, green's says to keep at it. for me, the answer resides somewhere in the middle. i need to be a stern taskmaster, as my book won't write itself. but i can't write if i don't have something to write about. so, when i have material, i write. when i don't, i seek it out.
Daniel Stern
i have two pieces of advice:
1. WRITE. so many people say they're writing a book, but so few actually do the work. write and you've bypassed 95% of the pack. everyday write. even if it's just a sentence. after a month, you'll be surprised at how much you've accumulated.
2. SUCK. the only writer i know of who doesn't type a single word until he knows the entire work by heart is Edward Albee. the rest of us have to hack it out. and a big part of "hacking it out" is sucking. in short, you have to suck. so suck. suck hard. suck worse than you ever thought you could suck. most importantly, give yourself permission to suck. i call my first drafts "barf drafts." i know they're going to suck and meander and be barely readable, but i need to barf it all out in order to examine it and see what i've got. without fail, the barf draft produces the bedrock for my book.
so, yeah, write and suck. there's my advice.
1. WRITE. so many people say they're writing a book, but so few actually do the work. write and you've bypassed 95% of the pack. everyday write. even if it's just a sentence. after a month, you'll be surprised at how much you've accumulated.
2. SUCK. the only writer i know of who doesn't type a single word until he knows the entire work by heart is Edward Albee. the rest of us have to hack it out. and a big part of "hacking it out" is sucking. in short, you have to suck. so suck. suck hard. suck worse than you ever thought you could suck. most importantly, give yourself permission to suck. i call my first drafts "barf drafts." i know they're going to suck and meander and be barely readable, but i need to barf it all out in order to examine it and see what i've got. without fail, the barf draft produces the bedrock for my book.
so, yeah, write and suck. there's my advice.
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