Today, I’m honored to be interviewed by Janalyn Voigt on her blog Book Readers Central. Take a peek to discover what inspired me to become a writer, what I enjoyed most about writing Behold the Dawn, and what books I enjoy reading—among other things.
August 16, 2010 by 16 Comments Writing InspirationWhat Inspired You to Become a Writer? – And Other Questions Answered
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About K.M. Weiland | @KMWeilandK.M. Weiland is the award-winning and internationally-published author of the acclaimed writing guides Outlining Your Novel, Structuring Your Novel, and Creating Character Arcs. A native of western Nebraska, she writes historical and fantasy novels and mentors authors on her award-winning website Helping Writers Become Authors.
Great interview. I didn’t know your books were available in hardcover.
Someday, I’d like to see if you would mind laying your pen to the pages of Outlaw and giving me a sig. 🙂
No, they’re only available in paperback. Did I say otherwise? And, of course, I’ll sign Outlaw!
I misread. You said “hardcopy” and my brain failed to function properly. :p It does that every now and then.
Mine does that all the time!
Mine is beginning to do it more often than I would like. 😉
That was a great interview and a truly fascination book trailer.
As always your blog sparked my mind with the question : how did you get started writing?
My own burning need to write had its birth in my childhood.
Like most births, it began in darkness and in pain :
The worst winter in years had seized Detroit, Michigan in a power-killing grip. In our basement apartment, my mother watched helpless as my double pnuemonia grew worse, the coughing, the chills, the fever.
Streets impassable, no phone, no friends to turn to, no medicine, no lights, no heat.
And as I grew worse, my mother held me tight, prayed, and to hold off the fear and the despair we both felt, she told me tales …
Merging the legends of both worlds of her blood, Lakota and Irish, she spun me tales of a brave yet mistake-prone talking bear, Hibbs, the bear with two shadows.
And a world of wonder and magic wound and weaved through my mind like some mystic river.
I forgot my coughing. The cold was just the mysterious Turquoise Woman hugging me close, for her touch was the breath of winter itself. Yet she hugged only those she loved.
In the shadows at the foot of my bed, I could just make out a shape that just had to be Hibbs, the mighty protector of all children.
And deep inside, I knew that with such invisible friends all around me, I would be all right. Perhaps it was that certain belief that pulled me through.
So I spin tales out into the cyber darkness, hoping to touch some struggling heart with a sense of wonder and mystery.
Forgive my long-windedness. I almost deleted my comment. It’s too long. And too much about me and not about you and your lovely blog. Apologies. Roland
Don’t apologize! I’m always fascinated by others’ journeys to become writers – and yours is a doozie. Parents who encourage their children’s imaginations have all my respect and appreciation.
I’m a perfectionist as well and I’m curious: how do you keep your attention focused on going forward, instead of constantly going back and rewriting?
Having a good sense of discipline is definitely part of it, but I chalk most of it up to in-depth outlining. Thanks to my outline, I always know where I’m going, so I feel I have more freedom to stop and tweak things along the way.
I loved your interview – great insight into your writing life 🙂 I’m also a perfectionist and find myself constantly editing/re-writing. I feel I can’t go forward without doing so. You say you write for 2 hours, with the first hour being a warm up, so you only write for one hour on your actual book? How much on average can you write in that one hour – do you have a word quota? I’m curious to know as I have set aside 2 hours every morning for writing too but often find it hard to focus in that time and sometimes barely write anything thinking I need more time…
Actually, the first half hour is warm up. I try to write for 90 minutes. Word count goals and I don’t generally get along (as I explained in this post), so I’m happy with whatever number of words I get at the end of day. I generally average between 800 and 1,500 words.
I’ve discovered that the trick to making good use of whatever amount of writing time I have is to just put my fingers on the keyboard and start typing. It’s far too easy to sit there staring at the blinking cursor, waiting for inspiration to hit. But if I just start writing – even if the first few paragraphs are drivel – it’s much easier to keep writing. An object in motion stays in motion, and all that.
Thanks for your great advice! I’m going to try just typing too…:)
The great thing about writing that first draft is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. We can fix it again and again at a later date down the road.
Thanks KM,
I had guessed a lot of that but not all. Thanks too for listening and following a “reader’s” suggestion.
My daughter is an avid reader too, and always has a waiting list to be read next, but one of these days I’ll get her to read Behold the Dawn and your short stories and maybe more!
You know what inspired me to write? Years ago, my pastor’s wife (a beautiful blond I sort of had a crush on at age 16) read a piece I wrote for my bonehead English class (jr. college) and looked at me and said, “You’ve got talent.”
She never knew how much that offhand comment meant at the time, but it gave me the confidence to write, and I have never quit.
How have I learned: (1) the Famous Writers Course in fiction writing–wound up typing stories on a portable Olivetti in Viet Nam. (2) Majored in English/writing emphasis. (3) Had a wonderful class in advanced composition that really booted me up to a new level. (4) Worked as a probation officer for almost 29 years in Southern California and did thousand of interviews and wrote many court reports–bureaucratic language all the way! Worked on a couple novels along the way, did some ghost writing for university professors. (5) A couple years ago got back into fiction writing and took the Longridge Writer’s Group fiction course–was invited to take the novel writing followup course–not yet. Had a marvelous instructor though. (6) Started a watercolor blog last July and a writing blog about last October–I’ve been busy ever since.
What I got from your post was this: Check out forums. I will look into Christian Writers. And that discipline. I am interested in so much, I’m easily distracted, but I am doing better at getting in those two hours daily.
My novel is closer to publishable level now that every before. Soon I’ll have parts professionally read for edit suggestions. By the way, you’re at the top of my list.
Again, good one, Katie.
…and I forgot to mention. Yes, I have read a lot of how-to-write books, most on fiction writing. I have read your “Outlining” book too and found it helpful, which is saying something since there are so many good ones out there.
Thank you for the post idea! It was fun to think back on what had influenced my writing journey and to put it all into words.
I wish you all the best with your novel, and I hope you find the best possible editor for it. However, just to let you know, I’ve recently discontinued my editing service to allow me to focus more of my time and attention on my site and my own writing.