You learn to write by writing, and by reading and thinking about how writers have created their characters and invented their stories. If you are not a reader, don't even think about being a writer.

Jean M. Auel

Categorized in : Character Writing Reading

Life sometimes gets in the way of writing. by Jean M. Auel

Life sometimes gets in the way of writing.

writing sometimes way

Life is neither static nor unchanging. With no individuality, there can be no change, no adaptation and, in an inherently changing world, any species unable to adapt is also doomed.

individuality life-is world

I could write historical fiction, or science fiction, or a mystery but since I find it fascinating to research the clues of some little know period and develop a story based on that, I will probably continue to do it.

historical writing fiction

She lifted the drooping muzzle with both hands...It was a special embrace saved for special occasions.

horse special hands

I think of my books as mainstream and that's were most people who read them look for them in book stores.

book people thinking

Each book has been different and has been challenging in its own... by Jean M. Auel

Each book has been different and has been challenging in its own way to write.

challenges writing book

I started writing to please myself, a story I would like to read,... by Jean M. Auel

I started writing to please myself, a story I would like to read, and that is still true.

please stories writing

Science Fiction is not just about the future of space ships travelling to other planets, it is fiction based on science and I am using science as my basis for my fiction, but it's the science of prehistory - palaeontology and archaeology - rather than astronomy or physics.

ships space journey

When you are alone, you have all the time in the world to practice whistling like a bird. When there is no one in the world you can turn to, a horse or .even a lion may give you companionship. When you don't know if there is anyone in the world like you, you seek contact with something living however you can

horse practice giving

And that's how I start myself. I usually go back a couple of pages, maybe to the beginning of the chapter, and I start reading. And as I'm reading, I'm tweaking - putting in a different word, changing the syntax, putting that clause over there, you know that sort of thing.

couple different reading

If you want to fall in love, you can't hold everything in. You have to open up, take that risk. You'll be hurt sometimes, but if you don't, you'll never be happy. The one you find may not be the kind of woman you expected to fall in love with, but it wont matter, you'll love her for exactly what she is.

falling-in-love hurt love-you

My fiction is reviewed by the mainstream press, by science fiction periodicals, romance magazines, small press publications and various other journals, including some usually devoted to archaeological and other science material.

magazines romance fiction

It took some time to gather the research and develop it into the storyline, and to finally finish an origin myth poem that I had been working on for twenty years.

twenties research years

I don't write for publishers, certainly not for critics, and not for readers, But I am delighted that so many people have found my books enjoyable and want to continue to read them.

writing book people

Though my books are written from a historical perspective, I have goon so far back that I am in the realm of prehistorical speculation rather than simple historical fact to weave my stories around.

perspective simple book

They stared at each other, wanting each other, drawn to each other, but their silent shout of love went unheard in the roar of misunderstanding, and the clatter of culturally ingrained beliefs.

misunderstanding silent belief

Of the two, I would think of my work as closer to Science Fiction... by Jean M. Auel

Of the two, I would think of my work as closer to Science Fiction than Fantasy.

two fiction thinking

I have heard Science Fiction and Fantasy referred to as the fiction of ideas, and I like that definition, but it's the mainstream public that chooses my books for the most part.

book fiction ideas

I probably read 100 times more than I write, but that way when I move my characters through it, I know.

writing character moving

Art was as much in the activity as in the results. Works of art were not just the finished product, but the thought, the action, the process that created them.

process action art