Today I have YA author, Jefferson Smith, to talk about how the writing process for his novel, Strange Places, wasn't what you would expect.
Writing Time is Family Time
Like many authors I have spoken to, my writing time had always been a fairly isolating and lonely process. Was it any wonder that, in that environment, I had somehow managed to get all tangled up in myself? In a sense, my early stories had felt like me, talking to me, about me. No wonder they seemed dull and lifeless. But then one day a funny thing happened: I started working with my daughter. At first, it was just an idea we had for a character. She was interested in all things Goth at the time, and I was looking for a way to get her to express herself, so we put our heads together and came up with a girl character named Tayna. At the time, Tayna was a bit darker and broodier than she is now, but she already had the competence and the "nobody's fool" things going on. And she definitely had the funny. The core of our favorite orphan was already in place.
Continue reading Guest Post: Jefferson Smith - Writing Time is Family Time
Writing Time is Family TimeLike many authors I have spoken to, my writing time had always been a fairly isolating and lonely process. Was it any wonder that, in that environment, I had somehow managed to get all tangled up in myself? In a sense, my early stories had felt like me, talking to me, about me. No wonder they seemed dull and lifeless. But then one day a funny thing happened: I started working with my daughter. At first, it was just an idea we had for a character. She was interested in all things Goth at the time, and I was looking for a way to get her to express herself, so we put our heads together and came up with a girl character named Tayna. At the time, Tayna was a bit darker and broodier than she is now, but she already had the competence and the "nobody's fool" things going on. And she definitely had the funny. The core of our favorite orphan was already in place.
