| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
 Posted - 10 Sep 2015 : 04:20:58
|
There was a fun little meet with Salvatore at the Mark Twain House, just wondering if any other fellow Candlekeepers were in the audience. He spoke for a couple hours on a wide variety of subjects: a bit about Archmage, the evolution of Drizzt and his other characters, some of the pressures and frustrations faced when corporate sticks their noses into a creative, shared world, some of his non FR projects, really a whole bunch of stuff. He's a very skilled public speaker, quick on his feet and quite witty. My favorite parts were when he spoke on the writing process itself, I found those tidbits fascinating and insightful. As an aspiring writer of admittedly mediocre (at best) talent, I found a lot about his process and general mindset to be inspirational.
Ok, I'm off to go bang out a few more trite paragraphs of middling quality on my own project, I just wanted to share and see if any fellow posters were at this event. Apologies if this would fit better in another subforum.
|
Edited by - VikingLegion on 10 Sep 2015 04:23:09
|
|
|
BenN
Senior Scribe
Japan
382 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2015 : 04:54:25
|
quote:
My favorite parts were when he spoke on the writing process itself, I found those tidbits fascinating and insightful
Can you give more info about this? I'm attempting to write something myself, so I'd be very interested in any advice that you can pass along from his talk. |
 |
|
|
VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
Posted - 11 Sep 2015 : 06:37:21
|
Ok, I'll attempt to paraphrase a few of the points that really resonated with me from memory:
On Writer's Block
When asked by a member of the audience what he does when writer's block strikes, Bob got a bit animated and responded with; "I don't believe in writer's block. Sit down, shut up, and type." Even if you wake up the next morning, look at what you wrote the previous night, hate every page of it and delete the entire thing, at least you were working, exploring your characters, getting the wheels turning. So you might not use a single word, but you still made progress.
Why Be a Writer?
Because you have a story trying to crawl its way out of your brain and the only relief you can get is to write it down. Don't write because you want to be famous, don't write to get rich. It's a grind, it's sometimes boring and repetitive. But if you don't love it - the ups and the downs - do something else.
Finishing a Book
Why do so many people start writing stories and never finish them? [P.S. I'm very guilty of this!] Because once it's done you have to have the courage to let someone else read it, including critics who will rip you apart mercilessly. If it stays forever as a file on your computer it might be a good story or it might be a bad story, but you can continue to think it's a good story in your head and not have to face any unpleasant truths. [Kinda like a Shrodinger's Cat paradox I guess]
I hope some of that helped. Obviously he said it more articulately, and again I'm just paraphrasing off memory. The one verbatim line is the one I underlined. That was a really interesting moment in the hall, I wasn't sure if he was mad at the guy at first, but as he explained the statement it all made a ton of sense. He was a very engaging speaker, had a great sense of humor and timing with plenty of fun little stories and anecdotes thrown in. I wasn't sure what to think going in, but it definitely exceeded all my expectations. I recommend seeing him if he does something similar in your area. |
Edited by - VikingLegion on 11 Sep 2015 06:40:01 |
|
|
|
BenN
Senior Scribe
Japan
382 Posts |
Posted - 11 Sep 2015 : 08:25:31
|
| Thanks a lot for that; very interesting, and it chimes with what I've read other writers say. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Anyone else in Hartford, CT tonight to meet RAS?
