Where did the initial idea for We Walk Alone come from?
The idea for We Walk Alone came after my decision to put together a poetry collection. I gathered my work and tried to find a common theme or some way to connect all my different poems together. It’s a bit of an eclectic mix, but the poems examine life and how we connect and relate to other people. The title comes from one of the poems in the collection that addresses the issue of wanting to connect to someone, anyone, but knowing that your journey is yours and yours alone.
Which part of the publishing process was the most surprising?
I have quite a few author friends, so I had a good idea of what life behind the scenes of a book deal was like, but I think the thing that surprised me the most was noticing just how many small errors there can be, even in a relatively short poetry collection.
Knowing how many small errors were in my poetry collection, I’m rather frightened to get the edits back from my publisher for my upcoming contemporary romance, The Demon in Him (due 2015)
If you could give yourself any piece of advice before you started writing, what would it be?
Give yourself permission to write garbage and finish what you start. I used to obsess over every page. I wanted it to be perfect before I moved on to the next. I spent forever editing and re-editing half finished projects with the idea of “someday” in mind. Don't wait for “someday”. Finish what you start, even if it’s bad. And some of it will be bad. But the only way to learn how to write well is to write poorly.
Plotter or panster?
Pantser. All the way. I start out with an idea or a character and I just run with it. Sometimes I get 30,000 words in and stop because things stop making sense and I’m not sure how to continue. But I go back later, sometimes years later as in the case of the novel I just finished, and I suddenly know what’s going to happen and how to fix certain issues that I couldn't fix the first time.
I used to want to be a planner and I tried. I tried really hard, but I just don’t have it in me. I like not knowing everything about the story when I start writing it. I like the little surprises that present themselves.
Quiet room or noisy room when you're writing? How quiet do you need it? What sort of noise?
I can write in silence. I can write in noise. I can write with music or television in the background. I don’t need a certain environment to in order to be productive. I have three children. A singleton and a set of twins that are 17 months younger. Because of them I've learned to be flexible. If I had a choice though, I do prefer to write with some sort of music on, but I don't always have that option.
Your writing area/desk: a place for everything and everything in its place or if anyone ever straightened it, you'd never find a thing?
My desk goes through stages of disorder, but a few things remain constant. My coffee sits to the left of the monitor because I’m right handed and need my right hand to run the mouse. My notebooks for the novels and poetry project I’m currently working on also sit to my left in a neat pile. I have a mug of pens always nearby and a small drawer caddy that houses yet more pens and other stationery. Other than that, the kids pile their stuff on my desk like drawings they create for me. When it gets too messy I clean it off, but it’s never long before it’s cluttered again, but I can always find my writing resources.
What is your current pop culture obsession (book, TV show, movie, webcomic…)? What are the rest of us missing?
I watch quite a few different show but I'm currently obsessed with Outlander. I’m dying waiting for the second half of the first season, so I'm re-reading the books. I just started #5, The Fiery Cross.
I also watch Lost Girl, which is going into it’s fifth and final season. It’s full of fun, supernatural creatures. If you haven't watched it, you need to. Some parts are a bit racy (you've been warned)
And The Vampire Diaries. And Sailor Moon Crystal. I love those shows and fangirl about them with my good friend quite frequently.
Give yourself permission to write garbage and finish what you start. I used to obsess over every page. I wanted it to be perfect before I moved on to the next. I spent forever editing and re-editing half finished projects with the idea of “someday” in mind. Don't wait for “someday”. Finish what you start, even if it’s bad. And some of it will be bad. But the only way to learn how to write well is to write poorly.
Plotter or panster?
Pantser. All the way. I start out with an idea or a character and I just run with it. Sometimes I get 30,000 words in and stop because things stop making sense and I’m not sure how to continue. But I go back later, sometimes years later as in the case of the novel I just finished, and I suddenly know what’s going to happen and how to fix certain issues that I couldn't fix the first time.
I used to want to be a planner and I tried. I tried really hard, but I just don’t have it in me. I like not knowing everything about the story when I start writing it. I like the little surprises that present themselves.
Quiet room or noisy room when you're writing? How quiet do you need it? What sort of noise?
I can write in silence. I can write in noise. I can write with music or television in the background. I don’t need a certain environment to in order to be productive. I have three children. A singleton and a set of twins that are 17 months younger. Because of them I've learned to be flexible. If I had a choice though, I do prefer to write with some sort of music on, but I don't always have that option.
Your writing area/desk: a place for everything and everything in its place or if anyone ever straightened it, you'd never find a thing?
My desk goes through stages of disorder, but a few things remain constant. My coffee sits to the left of the monitor because I’m right handed and need my right hand to run the mouse. My notebooks for the novels and poetry project I’m currently working on also sit to my left in a neat pile. I have a mug of pens always nearby and a small drawer caddy that houses yet more pens and other stationery. Other than that, the kids pile their stuff on my desk like drawings they create for me. When it gets too messy I clean it off, but it’s never long before it’s cluttered again, but I can always find my writing resources.
What is your current pop culture obsession (book, TV show, movie, webcomic…)? What are the rest of us missing?
I watch quite a few different show but I'm currently obsessed with Outlander. I’m dying waiting for the second half of the first season, so I'm re-reading the books. I just started #5, The Fiery Cross.
I also watch Lost Girl, which is going into it’s fifth and final season. It’s full of fun, supernatural creatures. If you haven't watched it, you need to. Some parts are a bit racy (you've been warned)
And The Vampire Diaries. And Sailor Moon Crystal. I love those shows and fangirl about them with my good friend quite frequently.
.jpg)
We each are but a grain of sand on a beach, a cog in a great time piece. We are surrounded, yet solitary, wanting to be part of the whole while aching to be individual. We search for those special connections, reaching out with hope but holding back with trepidation, our hearts wanting one thing while our minds are saying something different. Yet within this batter, despite the scars, we somehow manage to find love, hope, companionship, and purpose, ultimately without surrendering our ability to find that necessary peace within ourselves.
Mariah E. Wilson is a writer from beautiful British Columbia. She has been published in Thin Air Magazine, Every Day Poets, The Kitchen Poet, Literary Orphans and The Corner Club Press, for which she is also now the Poetry Editor. Her first poetry collection, We Walk Alone, was published by Writers AMuse Me Publishing.
Links:
2 comments:
Flexibility and just getting it done are two good qualities to have for an author. Nice to meet you Mariah.
I don't have the channel that shows Outlander, but I've heard it's good. I admire anyone who can write poetry; I've never been good at writing poems, though I read somewhere that poetry makes you even more aware of every single word and line, because every single one counts.
Post a Comment