What I love most about the Writer’s Life interview series is the chance to glean wisdom from so many different writers. Today, Lisa Scottoline, New York Times bestselling author of 22 novels (whose current release, MOST WANTED, hit the shelves April 12) offers one of the best nuggets of parenting-cum-writing advice I’ve read yet: Be yourself. Meet Lisa:
What have you learned from parenting, or from your own parents, that you bring to your work as a writer?
I was very close to both my mother and my father and they were wonderful parents. I truly think that the thing I learned from them that helps me as a writer is “Be yourself.” There is simply no better way to explain what voice is, in my opinion.
It’s a good thing to tell new writers because there is so much self-doubt in the beginning, and, truly, it never goes away completely. Writers often doubt if what they’re saying is different or original, or if their ideas are good enough, or if their characters are fresh. If you are being yourself when you write, or being your character, then the voice will be authentic, true, and original – and will also be compelling. There are only a few stories in the world. We probably all know the quote that there are only two plots: a stranger comes to town, and a man goes on a quest. But though there are very few stories, there is an unlimited number of stories told by you. Or your character. And so “Be yourself” is simply the best thing you can ever be in life and in writing.
Where do you write? What do you love about it?
I write in my home. I love my house so much, especially because my five dogs and three cats are always around, which is like bringing a little nature and unpredictability into every situation. I have a sunroom I like to write in in the warmer months, and I just moved into it today because it’s spring. There’s a cherry tree right outside the window, and it’s very quiet because it overlooks my backyard. With the sun flowing inside, I feel like the luckiest writer in the world.
If you had a motto, what would it be?
It would be “Be yourself,” for the reason I said above. But if I’m going to suggest a second motto, it would be “Just do it.” I borrowed that phrase from Nike when for so many years I was nervous about trying to become a writer and I had a lot of self-doubt and insecurity. One day I just got so disgusted with doubting myself, I said to myself, “Just do it.” Writing is very behavioral, in that you have to sit down every day and settle those negative feelings inside, and just do it. I have a writing quota that I meet every day and I write seven days a week. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the best way for me to write and to actually finish a draft, then I get to edit. And there will be a time when I’m writing and I come to an especially hard passage or plot point and I actually still say to myself, “Just do it!”
Who inspires you?
I feel inspired by every book I read, because I see the interesting task that a writer has assigned himself or herself, and how he or she has gone about executing that idea. I’m proud of anybody who starts and finishes a novel, whether it gets published or not!
What charity or community service are you passionate about? Why?
I really love animals. I’m a vegetarian and I am very passionate about animal welfare. I wish we treated animals better in the world, not only dogs and cats, but aquatic animals and the like. I abhor factory farming, which is a disgrace. Paul McCartney once said that if slaughterhouses had glass walls, nobody would eat meat. I think he is absolutely right. The more you know about animals, the more you understand yourself in relation to nature. I hope someday we will overcome our natural tendency to subjugate and kill such sentient and intelligent beings.
Thanks to Lisa and St. Martin’s Press for offering one copy of MOST WANTED for a giveaway! To enter, visit my Facebook page and click on “Giveaway” tab.
LISA SCOTTOLINE is a New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author of twenty-two novels. She has 30 million copies of her books in print in the United States, and she has been published in thirty-five countries. She has served as the president of Mystery Writers of America, and her thrillers have been optioned for television and film. She also writes a weekly humor column with her daughter, Francesca Serritella, for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and those critically acclaimed stories have been adapted into a series of memoirs, the first of which is entitled, Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog. She lives in the Philadelphia area with an array of disobedient pets. Visit scottoline.com for more info.
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Laura Nicole Diamond 