Multi-talented, murder mystery best selling author, JEFFERY DEAVER shares his writing life with us………
“I never took classes. There aren’t any books that I would recommend. The best way to learn about writing is to study the work of other writers you admire.”
Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?
A. Usually I write in an office in my house. But, I write pretty much anywhere — on planes, in hotel rooms, anywhere in my house. (My office sometimes gets so cluttered I end up working in the kitchen. When the kitchen goes, it’s up to my bedroom. And so on and so on. I wish I had a bigger house.) I like the writing area to be silent (or with jazz or classical accompaniment occasionally) and either windowless or shaded. When it comes time to write the book itself I’ll shut the lights out, picture the scene I’m about to write then close my eyes and go at it.
Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)
A. Unfortunately, and as boring as this sounds, I don’t have any rituals. I get to work early in the morning and write eight to ten hours a day.
Q. What is your mode of writing?
A. I work on the computer. Once a book is completed, I print out a hard copy and edit it, then input any corrections back into the computer.
Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?
A. I look on writing as I would any job. I show up early and work eight to ten hours a day, every day, whether I feel like it or not. I never take a day off. Even when I travel, I write on the plane and in hotel rooms. I never wait for inspiration. If I did, I would never get anything done. I sometimes will put my book aside for a short period to write a short story or two. As soon as a novel is finished, I start right in on the next one.
Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?
A. When you write for a living, you really don’t have the luxury of procrastination. If someone has writer’s block, it may be more of an idea block. Sometimes an idea just isn’t working. If you have a craftsman’s command of the language and basic writing techniques you’ll be able to write — as long as you know what you want to say. This is not to belittle the affliction, of course, because figuring out what you want to communicate can be one hell of a daunting task. When I find myself frozen — whether I’m working on a brief passage in a novel or brainstorming about an entire book — it’s usually because I’m trying to shoehorn an idea into the passage or story where it has no place. When that happens, it may be helpful to put the story or novel aside and start something new.
Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing and for how long?
A. I don’t get lost in the sense that I’m overtaken by a creative force, but while I’m at work, I do a fairly good job at concentrating on the work I’m doing.
Q. Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment?
A. As I mentioned, because writing is my profession, I tend to look at the craft as a job. It’s a job I love, of course, but it’s still a job, so I don’t work from inspiration or a Muse.
Q. When did you begin to write seriously?
A. I started writing seriously as a teenager.
Q. How long after that were you published?
A. It took about twenty years (and many rejections) before my first novel was published, and several more years before I had any real success.
Q. What makes a writer great?
A. Writers who make the reader want to keep turning those pages to see what happens next are really great writers.
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Join us on October 10th for Part 2 of my interview with this best selling author
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! “The Writer’s Corner”
I have had a wonderful response from other authors and will feature an interview with one once a month . These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! September will feature Tasha Alexander. Jeffrey Deaver is October’s author and Patrick Taylor will join us in November. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author.
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