Interview with Constance Sharper

 

Hey all you readers and writers! Emma Michaels here to introduce our guest author of the day:

Constance Sharper

Hello Constance and welcome to The Writers Voice!

Do you ever get writers block? How do you suggest aspiring authors overcome their own bouts of writers block?

I’ve always heard mixed answers from other authors about the “best” way to get over writer’s block. The most common answer seems to be that you need to force yourself to sit down and work through the tough spots that occur when writing a book. Honestly, I don’t particularly subscribe to that theory. I think most people will find, like I do, that they are too close to the story to see it clearly. The thing I do is take ten steps back and do anything to get my mind off of the book. When I come back, it’s much fresher in my mind. Time is a wonderful thing. In the time you were out and about, you gathered new stimuli and things to put in your book. I recommend milkshakes and small, cute animals.

What do you feel is your biggest writerly fault and how do you deal with it?

I rush. A lot. In fact, I sometimes attempt to force my story faster than it should go and don’t devote the time I need to deal with it. Though I can attempt to break my die-hard habits, I really owe much of my overcoming this habit to my “team”. The “team” is the people I surround myself with that give me advice and criticism even when I don’t want it. They are my book’s biggest fans and never let me fall short.

What is your favorite point of view to write from? Do you have any particular reason?

I write mainly in third person limited. I find that this perspective allows people to stand in the shoes of the protagonist, but the protagonist isn’t thinking for the reader. Very rarely will the characters divulge their exact thoughts but the reader will “just kinda get it”. This is priceless to me and why you’ll find it throughout my entire book series, The Airborne Saga.

Worldbuilding is such an important part of writing. What is your world building process like for you?

Logically. I hate using that term because I am a very illogical person but there is something to say for approaching world-building in this manner. Even with dealing with fantastical settings, there is some sense of realism underneath them. When writing my original novel Airborne, I approached it with logical questions. If you were a harpie in the modern day world, what would you look like? How would wings and magic change your life? And most importantly, what kind of ice cream would you like?

What's your writing routine? Do you write in the mornings, nights, daily, or when the mood strikes you?

I don’t have a set schedule. I’m one of the most unorganized people you will ever meet. Rest assured that I’ll probably even lose this interview in a huge stack of papers before the day is out. Anyways, since I’m this disorganized, I often find myself writing at random times and writing random chapters. There is no particular organization to the method, not a strategy I recommend, but the writing routine works for me.

What is your biggest pet peeve in writing?

I have this problem with making sense. Not just because I barely make sense in reality but in fiction, you’re often dealing with a large world plotline. Everything has to make sense and every tiny action the character does should be for a reason. Taking on twenty characters like they’re puppets can give you a headache. Luckily, I can and do make sense on some occasions (this hopefully being one of those occasions) and can pull the book together in the end.

To all our readers out there, thank you for following The Writers Voice and happy reading!