In a guest post on Chuck Wendig’s blog, Gwenda Bond shares a few things she learned while writing her latest book Not Your Average Hot Guy.
- Sometimes you need to get out and do stuff. The inspiration for Not Your Average White Guy was an impromptu reservation for a Sherlock Holmes-themed escape room. “I love writing about family businesses, and I wondered what it would be like if your family ran an escape room,” Bond explains. “And what if you accidentally put a real grimoire in a room? And also, what if it summoned a devil, and what if instead of the usual it was the devil’s son and that’s a whole different kind of family business?”
- When you’re excited about an idea, ignore the reasons you shouldn’t write it. At first glance, Bond realized her pitch wasn’t a natural sale, but she kept at it, confident that her energy would carry the day. “I was not at all confident anyone would like this book, let alone want to buy it. But I decided not to care,” she writes. “[Y]our voice and what interests you, the weird way you combine all the art that made you, the you part of your books, all that is the only thing no one else can bring to the table. You have to trust it.”
- Lean into your obsessions. “Truth is, most of us have genres or things we’re low-key or major-key obsessed with, and often it’s those that will mug you,” Bond says. “They’re deep in your subconscious.”
There’s more at the link.
