16Apr12 A writer’s habits, Nicole Murphy interviews kja
Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 2:18 pm
http://nicolermurphy.com/blog/2012/04/a ... -anderson/
A writer’s habits – Kevin J Anderson
Uncategorized
by Nicole
I met Kevin and his wife Rebecca Moesta (also a best-selling writer)
when they happened to be touring Australia at the same time that
my Conflux (Conflux 4) was on and so we were able to get them along
as guests on the cheap Unfortunately, it was the end of their tour
and Kevin and Rebecca had picked up the most god-awful lurgy. Still,
they soldiered on and were fabulous guests. I was lucky enough to
spend some time with them, ferrying them around to get Thai and such
(a failed attempted to heat the lurgy out of existence) and we’ve been
buddies every since.
I was delighted Kevin could take part in this series.
1) What is your writing schedule?
Ummm, when am I not writing? That is, all day long is devoted to
some aspect of writing, whether it’s editing, doing interviews,
researching, proofreading, traveling for book signings or library talks.
Generally, the WRITING part takes place early in the morning — I
have my coffee and breakfast, work out, and then go out with the
digital recorder to do two chapters on the trail.
2) Do you set yourself word count aims or time limits to keep
yourself on track? What are your aims/limits?
I do two chapters a day, sometimes more. That’s about 4000 words.
3) Do you work on more than one project at a time?
If so, how do you organise it?
Definitely. That’s the best way to defeat writer’s block. I usually have one
book I’m *writing*, another book I’m editing, something else I’m researching,
something I’m proofreading, something I’m promoting. That way I can change
gears if one part gets too dull or tedious. I guess I must have multiple
personalities; I just use a different part of my brain.
4) If you have paid employment apart from writing, how do you organise
your time so you can write?
I used to work full time and managed to write a book a year by devoting
evenings and weekends to my fiction. Now I am a full time writer, seven
days a week.
5) If you have family, how do you organise your time so you can write?
It certainly helps to have a wife who is also a full-time bestselling
writer! Our business is writing, so we put in a full work day.
6) How do you get family and friends to respect the writing time
and leave you be?
By enforcing a strict writing schedule, but also since I do my writing
while i’m out walking, so I take myself out of the distraction mill!
You have to treat your writing seriously, and other people will, too.<
7) How do you ensure your health is a priority?
Again, since I write while walking, I get exercise every time I do a
chapter, but I also work out in the home gym every morning.
Healthy body, healthy mind — and I want to keep my mind healthy
so I can keep making stuff up!
8) What do you do to keep your ‘well of creativity’ stocked up?
I travel, I see new things, I read interesting books, I meet people …
and deadlines help, too!
9) How do you cope with the days/weeks that you just don’t
want to write?
Don’t want to write? What does that mean?
What else would I want to do?
10) How do you fit other writer career commitments into your
schedule so it doesn’t unduly affect the writing? Eg publicity,
attending conventions
That’s tough. You have to promote your work, or nobody will buy
it. And if nobody buys it, then you don’t get to write the next book.
But publicity, interviews, book tours, library talks — all of that takes
up time that could be spent writing. (In fact a national book tour
— which most authors would love to have — costs me about a full
novel in productivity.)
11) What changes have you made to your habits over the years?
What are the mistakes that you used to make, habits that didn’t
work for you?
I used to get distracted too much with emails, websites, chats, etc.
I still do. I have to get out of that distraction (still very hard for me).
I also try very hard not to answer the phone if it’s going to interrupt
my work.
12) RSI and skeletal problems are proving to be big problems for
writers – what suggestions would you make to ensure up and
comers don’t suffer?
Again, sounding like a broken record here, but I do my writing by
dictation, so I am moving, not typing, all day long. It keeps me
healthy and active, and works great for a restless person.
***
Kevin J. Anderson is the author of more than one hundred novels,
47 of which have appeared on national or international bestseller
lists. He has over 20 million books in print in thirty languages. He
has won or been nominated for numerous prestigious awards,
including the Nebula Award, Bram Stoker Award, the SFX Reader’s
Choice Award, the American Physics Society’s Forum Award, and
New York Times Notable Book. By any measure, he is one of the
most popular writers currently working in the science fiction genre.
You can read more at his website http://www.wordfire.com/
...
A writer’s habits – Kevin J Anderson
Uncategorized
by Nicole
I met Kevin and his wife Rebecca Moesta (also a best-selling writer)
when they happened to be touring Australia at the same time that
my Conflux (Conflux 4) was on and so we were able to get them along
as guests on the cheap Unfortunately, it was the end of their tour
and Kevin and Rebecca had picked up the most god-awful lurgy. Still,
they soldiered on and were fabulous guests. I was lucky enough to
spend some time with them, ferrying them around to get Thai and such
(a failed attempted to heat the lurgy out of existence) and we’ve been
buddies every since.
I was delighted Kevin could take part in this series.
1) What is your writing schedule?
Ummm, when am I not writing? That is, all day long is devoted to
some aspect of writing, whether it’s editing, doing interviews,
researching, proofreading, traveling for book signings or library talks.
Generally, the WRITING part takes place early in the morning — I
have my coffee and breakfast, work out, and then go out with the
digital recorder to do two chapters on the trail.
2) Do you set yourself word count aims or time limits to keep
yourself on track? What are your aims/limits?
I do two chapters a day, sometimes more. That’s about 4000 words.
3) Do you work on more than one project at a time?
If so, how do you organise it?
Definitely. That’s the best way to defeat writer’s block. I usually have one
book I’m *writing*, another book I’m editing, something else I’m researching,
something I’m proofreading, something I’m promoting. That way I can change
gears if one part gets too dull or tedious. I guess I must have multiple
personalities; I just use a different part of my brain.
4) If you have paid employment apart from writing, how do you organise
your time so you can write?
I used to work full time and managed to write a book a year by devoting
evenings and weekends to my fiction. Now I am a full time writer, seven
days a week.
5) If you have family, how do you organise your time so you can write?
It certainly helps to have a wife who is also a full-time bestselling
writer! Our business is writing, so we put in a full work day.
6) How do you get family and friends to respect the writing time
and leave you be?
By enforcing a strict writing schedule, but also since I do my writing
while i’m out walking, so I take myself out of the distraction mill!
You have to treat your writing seriously, and other people will, too.<
7) How do you ensure your health is a priority?
Again, since I write while walking, I get exercise every time I do a
chapter, but I also work out in the home gym every morning.
Healthy body, healthy mind — and I want to keep my mind healthy
so I can keep making stuff up!
8) What do you do to keep your ‘well of creativity’ stocked up?
I travel, I see new things, I read interesting books, I meet people …
and deadlines help, too!
9) How do you cope with the days/weeks that you just don’t
want to write?
Don’t want to write? What does that mean?
What else would I want to do?
10) How do you fit other writer career commitments into your
schedule so it doesn’t unduly affect the writing? Eg publicity,
attending conventions
That’s tough. You have to promote your work, or nobody will buy
it. And if nobody buys it, then you don’t get to write the next book.
But publicity, interviews, book tours, library talks — all of that takes
up time that could be spent writing. (In fact a national book tour
— which most authors would love to have — costs me about a full
novel in productivity.)
11) What changes have you made to your habits over the years?
What are the mistakes that you used to make, habits that didn’t
work for you?
I used to get distracted too much with emails, websites, chats, etc.
I still do. I have to get out of that distraction (still very hard for me).
I also try very hard not to answer the phone if it’s going to interrupt
my work.
12) RSI and skeletal problems are proving to be big problems for
writers – what suggestions would you make to ensure up and
comers don’t suffer?
Again, sounding like a broken record here, but I do my writing by
dictation, so I am moving, not typing, all day long. It keeps me
healthy and active, and works great for a restless person.
***
Kevin J. Anderson is the author of more than one hundred novels,
47 of which have appeared on national or international bestseller
lists. He has over 20 million books in print in thirty languages. He
has won or been nominated for numerous prestigious awards,
including the Nebula Award, Bram Stoker Award, the SFX Reader’s
Choice Award, the American Physics Society’s Forum Award, and
New York Times Notable Book. By any measure, he is one of the
most popular writers currently working in the science fiction genre.
You can read more at his website http://www.wordfire.com/
...