Literary Birthday – 8 November – Samantha Shannon

Happy Birthday, Samantha Shannon, born 8 November 1991.

Quotes

1. Some writers start from the beginning of the story, some from the end, some from a random point in the middle. What matters is that they start somewhere.
2. I tend to write slowly but solidly until quite late at night. I aim to sleep at around 11pm but often the writing urge will kick in when it turns dark, and I’ll end up writing past 1 a.m. I usually write for at least seven or eight hours a day, if not more.
3. I use what I call the “flesh-and-bones” planning structure, where I have the skeletal outline of the plot and all the important ‘joints’ and twists (including the ending of the series), but I leave room for manoeuvre and for the characters to flesh the story out themselves.
4. I think your best bet for starting a book – especially when you’re building an imaginary world – is often just to get a rough idea of the setting, drop a character into it, and start writing. Choose any point in the story and write something, anything.
5. Don’t worry if you don’t know every tiny corner of the world or every last twist in the plot; you can always go back and edit your work. It’s like working up the courage to jump into a freezing cold pool: once you’re in the water, you’ll start swimming.
6. Nothing’s worse than a story without an end.
7. Words are everything. Words give wings even to those who have been stamped upon, broken beyond all hope of repair.
8. Writing a novel is like knocking on a door that will never open. You are so desperate to get in, you will say or do anything. You feel: please take my novel,
9. I’m often daydreaming, and it’s because I’ve always liked the idea of there being something more than the normal world.

Samantha Shannon is a British writer of dystopian and paranormal fiction. In 2013, she published The Bone Season, the internationally bestselling first instalment in a seven-book series of fantasy novels. Its sequels, The Mime Order and The Song Rising have also been released. Follow here on Facebook: Samantha Shannon

Source for image

Author’s website

http://samantha-shannon.blogspot.com/p/about.html

source for advice

 by Amanda Patterson

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