Learning to write involves thinking like an author. So I certainly find author interviews to be good reading. Good too, are essays about writing. There are clues to be found. How does this author think? Is there something that clicks for me?
The other day I read a very short article about the choice of subject matter for two recently published novels. One story involves suicide and the author's life pointed directly to her exploring the subject. How could she not write about it? She stated and I could see her point, she had lost two close family members to suicide.
Often an author is told to write about their own life.
The second involved a news clip that took root in the author's brain and evolved into the novel. A bear attack that left two people dead became the story of what happens to the two children of a similar incident.
This is a familiar method - one that is found in many how-to write article. Watch the news.I like to experiment with different ways to get the story out. And I know that I have written on subjects that have happened to me and I have used news clips as a source of inspiration. And I will again.
Which leads me to think that I do think like an author. An author is always looking for clues and inspiration. Perfect. Being an author is being a lifetime learner. And that never gets old and I'm never bored.
