Stepping Over Distractions and the Sacred Space to Write

Episode 66

Guest Speaker ~ Carrie Knowles

“If you are a character-driven author, the character has to have faults. If they don’t have faults, they can’t get better. … You are always trying to move your character to a better state of grace.”
– Carrie Knowles

My conversation with Carrie Knowles, award-winning author and educator, began with how her studio came to fruition. The insights Carrie shared on how to handle distractions were priceless. For example, and offered this gem, “If you’re going to work at home, it’s stepping over the laundry.”

An issue many authors contend with is feeling the need to defend what they do. Carried said it well when she stated, “If you’re a writer, you really don’t have that many people you can talk about your writing to because 99.9% of the world doesn’t understand (including your mother). [She] doesn’t understand why you’re still working on that book. ‘Why are you still working on that book, or have we moved to another book? What’s going on here?'” Those types of questions become the breading ground of doubt and ammunition for the inner critic about whether writing is a real job.

In this Pen to Paper Press Podcast episode, you will hear:
.:. The importance of stepping over your laundry on the way to the office.
.:. Can writing be your day job?
.:. The difference between a character-driven and plot-driven author.
.:. The one question she asks college students who inquire about becoming a writer.
.:. Why the word “dead” is in deadline.
.:. The best place to do your research (and it’s not the internet).
.:. The Door of Hope, and how it relates to Carrie’s family history.
.:. How long it took her to realize it was necessary to kill one character in a chapter.
.:. How it is possible to not feel the shame of not wanting to write their way.
.:. The backstory to several of her books.

Pour a mug of fresh lemonade for yourself and enjoy this educational and entertaining conversation.