Literary Birthday – 26 April – Lisa Unger

Happy Birthday, Lisa Unger, born on 26 April 1970.

Lisa Unger Quotes

1. I don’t outline. When I sit down to write, I have no idea what’s going to happen, who’s going to show up or what they’re going to do day to day. And I certainly have no idea how things will end. It’s kind of a crazy way to write a book, but I’ve never done it any other way. I write for the same reason that I read, because I want to know what’s going to happen. (Lisa Unger)
2. I spend quite a bit of time on research. I love the Internet for its immediacy and wealth of information. But if I really need a deeper understanding and knowledge of something, I turn to books. But there’s nothing like anecdotal research, talking to people, hearing their stories and observing. I have a couple of people who I really rely on for the nuts and bolts of crime and police work. (Lisa Unger)
3. My golden creative hours are from about 5 am to noon, while I am still in my dream brain. (Lisa Unger)
4. It generally takes about ten months to a year for me to complete the first draft of my novel. Then, after I turn it in, there’s nearly another year before it finds its way to the bookshelf. During that year, there will be several more rounds of editing – content editing, line editing, copy editing. So from idea to published novel is about two years. (Lisa Unger)
5. My characters come to me as fully formed people outside of myself and they reveal themselves to me along the way. That said, I believe that good writers are also good observers and have the ability to store away many details. (Lisa Unger)
6. The best advice I can give aspiring writers is to write every day. Dig deeper every day. Be true to yourself. Think of publishing as an incidental element to the act of striving to be the best writer you can be, secondary to getting better every day for your experiences and dedication to the craft. (Lisa Unger)
7. Read everything you can get your hands on. Study the people who are doing it best and learn from them. (Lisa Unger)
8. I’ll ask you to consider for a moment that there is not a published author today who has not at one time been an aspiring writer. At one time or another every bestseller on the New York Times list, every critically acclaimed author you can name, had what you have right now, the dream of becoming a published author. (Lisa Unger)
9. I have always most naturally expressed myself through writing. I have always created stories to entertain myself and others. I’ve always dwelled in the land of my imagination more comfortably than in the real world. (Lisa Unger)
10. A writer writes because he or she can’t be anything else. (Lisa Unger)
11. There is no other way to be a published writer than to write, no matter what. Maybe it’s a paragraph, maybe it’s a page, maybe it’s ten pages when you can do it. But there is simply no other way to be a writer than to write. There are no short cuts, like anything worth doing. (Lisa Unger)
12. Write every day. Get better every day. Keep getting your work out there in the most professional way possible. And never, ever give up. (Lisa Unger)

More reading: Aspiring Writer to Published Author – Five Steps to Follow

Lisa Unger is an American author of psychological thrillers. She is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of 23 novels, including her latest release, Served Him Right. With books published in 33 languages and millions of copies sold worldwide, she is regarded as a master of suspense. She has been nominated for, or won, numerous awards including the Strand Critics, Audie, Hammett, Macavity, ITW Thriller, and Goodreads Choice. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations in the same year. Lisa is the current co-President of the International Thriller Writers organization. Follow her on Instagram.

Source for Image: Lisa Unger’s Media Room

by Amanda Patterson

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