wairauroad asked: Like the anon, I also find your writing motivates me to write and push past the mediocrity that most often is what I end up coming up with. I'm finding it difficult to construct the setting and action for my characters though as I feel like I haven't lived enough to be able to write about real life and real, honest things. The sort of things that Adam Gnade writes about. I'm not sure what to do.
I don’t want to find myself in some kind of position where people think I know what I’m talking about when it comes to writing. Anyone that claims authority when it comes to this is pulling one over on you. All I really know is that I’ve been working at this for a while, and by a “while” I mean almost every day for about 8 years.
It’s good that you find things about this difficult. There isn’t anything more difficult than writing. And the more you do it the more you know. The more you know the more you self-edit. The more you self-edit the harder it gets. It’s why people quit. It’s why reporters turn into editors. The hardest part out of all of this is coming up with stories out of the ether.
You’re right about Adam—he knows the people he’s writing about. The only advice I could give you, as cliche as it is, would be to tell you that experience will help. I don’t know how old you are, but if you’re young, say under 25, you shouldn’t be worried too much about writing. You should be doing as much living as you can.
Hope that helps. Like I said, I’m not claiming authority. All I know is experience and work have done right by me so far.
