AT WHAT POINT DO YOU THINK SOMEONE SHOULD CALL THEMSELVES A WRITER?
As soon as a person begins putting words to the page, he/she/they will benefit powerfully from self-identifying as a writer. Each time we say, “I am a writer,” and are asked the questions that follow, we are reminded of our responsibility. “What are you working on?” reminds us that as writers people expect us to write things, to be working on things. “What have you published?” gives us an opportunity to promote our work or reminds us that this goal still hangs before us to be sought, to be attained. This applies to, “Would I have read anything of yours?” or “What movies have you written,” or any other question that can feel like a challenge or a test. Saying “I am a writer,” (or better, “I write”) helps us claim a working identity and opens us up to conversations that lead us forward in our careers.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DO YOU SEE BETWEEN A WRITER AND AN AUTHOR? Authorship differentiates itself from ‘writing’ at the moment of publication. Many writers – some excellent writers – never publish. Some reject the notion of publication for one reason or another. Some find their imagined route to publication unavailable and any other route to be unacceptable. Some write only as a luxurious self-indulgence with no intention of ever sharing any of the work. Once one moves into publication, though, whether through a legacy publisher, an independent press, one of the myriad modern print-on-demand, or self-publishing routes, additional detailed and focused efforts put the writing to the press. From the editorial process through proofing on to type-setting and cover design, the writer does not become an author until these steps bring a professional understanding of the craft of releasing literature into the world.
HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED WRITING UNDER A PSEUDONYM, AND WHY OR WHY NOT?
I have written under pseudonyms. In some cases commissioned works turned out to be projects on which I did not want my name. In other cases I’ve worked as a straight-up ghost writer, receiving no credit at all. I write enough under my own names in enough genres, media and milieux that when something comes along that pays me but does not fit into the general persona and perspective I strive to embody in my work and my life, I don’t hesitate to distance my name from the work.
WHAT DO THE WORDS “WRITER’S BLOCK” MEAN TO YOU?
When I hear the phrase “writer’s block” my first thought is “somebody needs me.” I have never suffered from writer’s block. My first conscious experience of anything that might parallel writer’s block occurred in my earliest Martial Arts training. I realized that my own anxieties and self-consciousness prevented me from opening myself to the necessary process of exploration and discovery. I developed very specific breathing exercises for myself to alleviate the problem. When I realized that the same approach to breathing for anxiety relief cured others of their writing blocks my understanding of the nature of the breath in relation to all endeavors of courage and focus deepened profoundly. This work became the basis of all my coaching, workshops and seminars for writers. There’s plenty of information about it all to be found at activevoiceproductions.com/education
