BIRTHDAY BLOG GUEST POST: M.A. Stacie

Thank you so much for having me on the blog today.

Congratulations on your first year!

The blog is so wonderfully supportive to authors and their work. I know there will be many more anniversaries.

M.A. Stacie

xx

The Quirks of an Author

Authors: we’re an odd bunch. The more I interact with, the more I see those little oddities in others. I’m not talking quirks that are so strange that you’d run in the other direction if you knew about them. I’m talking about little things, small processes, actions or verbal cues that have to occur before the writing process can start.

Take me, for example, I’m not ashamed to admit that most of my writing is done with pen and paper first. To some, that sounds like a pretty laborious task. To me, for some unknown reason, it helps with my thought process.

I should also state my pen has to be pink. Yep. Pink. Crazy, right? Honestly, I’ve tried the exact same process but with a pen of another color. Didn’t work.

Quirk.

I’ve known some authors that can only write when they have their favorite playlist on, or those that need complete silence. Then there are ones that need a good coffee, others that need something…stronger to lubricate the mind.

Quirk.

To some people all of these things are weird, and I’ve been asked more than once why we need these oddities. Personally, I equate it to wearing a uniform to work. Once you’re wearing it, you’re ready to go. Prepared for your shift. Each author has their ‘uniform’ and they have to be wearing it to get the words flowing.

As with everything, I guess there can be deviations, but to be truly comfortable those little points are needed.

 

My quirks weren’t always there; they evolved over time. When I first started writing the room had to be silent, and I would type straight onto the screen. Coffee was always part of the process.

It should always be a part of the process because, come on, it’s coffee.

I’m rarely surprised by things authors do to get the words flowing. In fact, the basic plot for most of my works have come to me while I was running. After I’ve written it out (in pink pen, of course) you can bet it will be where my mind drifts to on my next run. It works for me. I’ve heard of some authors who plot theirs in the shower or while taking a bath.

When I first started writing seriously I found all these quirks just strange. Back then, whenever I wrote a sex scene, I needed a glass of wine or two. I laugh at that now, as since then I’ve written a very hot sex scene while on the bus. My inhibitions have definitely been lowered. However, I’m not going to turn down a glass of red… or a new pink pen.

Quirks are what makes us human. It’s what we try to give our characters. It makes them memorable.

M.A. Stacie

xx