Ask the Author: Merry Jones
Answered Questions (3)
Merry Jones
Well, the best thing about it for me is that it keeps me sane. If I don't write, I get anxious, depressed, irritable. It's as if energy is building up inside and needs to be released. And writing is what releases it.
Other than that, writing lets me work my own hours, at home. I have no boss (although agents and editors can feel like bosses). I can wear what I want, usually pj's, without makeup or even showering.
Best of all, when a book is finished, I send it off to find its readers. For me, that's what writing is all about--Without readers, what's the point?
Other than that, writing lets me work my own hours, at home. I have no boss (although agents and editors can feel like bosses). I can wear what I want, usually pj's, without makeup or even showering.
Best of all, when a book is finished, I send it off to find its readers. For me, that's what writing is all about--Without readers, what's the point?
Merry Jones
There's no single simple answer for this question. Sometimes, I give myself a few days or even a couple of weeks off. During this period, I do NOT write. After a while, the discomfort of not writing becomes too great, and I start again.
Wait, you say. How do you start again if you're blocked?
Good point. So first, I make an outline of a plot. Then I follow the outline, step by step, while getting to know the characters. I find that to recover from "blocking," it's important to write regularly and give myself a reliable rhythm, a regular "time slot" for writing with a disciplined schedule. As the blocking eases up, I can ease up on the discipline.
Also, I give myself permission to be less than perfect. If I insist on creating high literature, nothing will ever be "good enough," and I'll be perpetually blocked. So I concentrate on telling a good story and sticking with it until it's done.
Wait, you say. How do you start again if you're blocked?
Good point. So first, I make an outline of a plot. Then I follow the outline, step by step, while getting to know the characters. I find that to recover from "blocking," it's important to write regularly and give myself a reliable rhythm, a regular "time slot" for writing with a disciplined schedule. As the blocking eases up, I can ease up on the discipline.
Also, I give myself permission to be less than perfect. If I insist on creating high literature, nothing will ever be "good enough," and I'll be perpetually blocked. So I concentrate on telling a good story and sticking with it until it's done.
Merry Jones
In part, my most recent book, ELECTIVE PROCEDURES, takes Elle Harrison and her pals on a trip to Mexico, where one of them is having cosmetic surgery. The idea grew out of a trip to Mexico I took with my husband and cousins. The Puerto Vallarta setting and Mexican culture suggested uneasy contrasts between light and darkness, life and death--Common themes in Mexican holidays and art.
Beyond that, the novel is built around women's desires for physical beauty and what they will do to attain it. It deals with jealousy, competition. Suspicion. And love. These urges/emotions are part of everyone's life to a degree, but ELECTIVE PROCEDURES takes them to an extreme, and looks at what happens when they explode.
In addition, Elle's late husband Charlie reappears, raising questions about life and death, and supernatural possibilities. These are topics I love to consider. I found it a fun book to write, and I hope readers find it entertaining.
Beyond that, the novel is built around women's desires for physical beauty and what they will do to attain it. It deals with jealousy, competition. Suspicion. And love. These urges/emotions are part of everyone's life to a degree, but ELECTIVE PROCEDURES takes them to an extreme, and looks at what happens when they explode.
In addition, Elle's late husband Charlie reappears, raising questions about life and death, and supernatural possibilities. These are topics I love to consider. I found it a fun book to write, and I hope readers find it entertaining.
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