Corey
asked
Jeff VanderMeer:
Jef, you've written plenty on the craft of writing, and also go out of your way to teach and spread your knowledge of the craft. How would you advise a person suffering from writer's block? I'm asking for a friend.
Jeff VanderMeer
This is a complicated question, and one where a diagnosis is hazardous to give from afar, so to speak. One answer is to forget the writing for a while and do something else entirely and do not try to write for a few weeks. Sometimes then it comes back to you. Another answer is to do automatic writing or some writing exercise where you're not trying to create a full story but just do some limited task. A third possibility is to take a classic folktale and re-tell it, or to take some favorite chapter from a favorite book, re-read it, then try to rewrite it yourself from memory, which creates variation that's interesting and may spark something. But there's a whole essay on writer's block in my Wonderbook that is probably better as something to read. And also other parts of the book.
More Answered Questions
Cristina
asked
Jeff VanderMeer:
One of the most difficult things, in my opinion, while writing a story is to give every character a distinctive voice. Often times all the characters sound almost the same. I thought that in "Shriek: An Afterword" (a wonderful book that I cherish) you create a fantastic setting to differenciate Janice and Ducan. In any given story, how do you make sure each character has a trademark voice?
Sean
asked
Jeff VanderMeer:
Even though they are very different books, I felt like your books have a lot in common with "House of Leaves" (the whole Lovecraftian uncertainty, the focus on protagonists who aren't fully aware of the world they're interacting with) and I just wondered if "Leaves" happened to be a book that influenced your thinking or if it's just serendipitous reading on my part.
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