Tag: author

creativity

In the pause: Whispers in the night—how our books speak to us as writers

Christa Avampato

A few days ago, I mentioned that I was having trouble writing Emerson‘s second book. Last night, I just decided to tag along with her to see where she was going, what she was doing, and who she was with. I didn’t expect or ask for anything. I just stayed quiet and listened. I was helped by the idea of a dæmon in The Golden Compass; Lyra’s dæmon sometimes hitches a ride on her shoulder to join the adventure. I did the same with Emerson.

It’s odd what your characters will tell you when you just listen to them. I found out Emerson’s birthday is January 1st, that there are now hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people who are looking for the same treasure that she seeks, and that her travels take her not to one place in Book 2 but many places. There’s some romance, heartbreak, and loss. She will be plunged into memories she would rather not see but are vital to her pursuits and her destiny. There are portals hidden in plain sight. The line between the physical world and the world of the mind is blurred to the point where they’re really no different at all. Time and space are much more fluid than we imagine them to be.

So today, I’m putting my ear to the ground, closing my eyes, and listening intently to the adventures Emerson has taken. I imagine her now, much older and wiser, entertaining a woman (me) who just showed up at her door and asked to hear the story of her life. She has a lot to tell me. She just needs some time.

creativity

In the pause: A lesson in writing from Terry Prachett—just tell yourself a story

Christa Avampato

“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” ~Terry Prachett

I’ve been having trouble writing Emerson’s second book. I have a pile of index cards I shuffle around, but the truth is I’m nervous. I’m stalling. The first book was such a heavy life, but ignorance was bliss. I had no expectations of it except to write it down as truthfully as I could. I had been thinking about it for so long (5 years) before I started writing it that its scenes and words were well-etched in my mind.

This time is different. I feel more responsibility to get it right, to stay honest to what I created in the first book. I don’t want to let down Emerson. In my procrastination and stagnation, I found this quote from Terry Prachett. It made me feel a little bit bolder and braver, less cautious and concerned. There will come a time for refinement and revision, but that day’s not today. Today, I’m just letting Emerson tell me her story.

creativity

In the pause: How fantasy writing helps us understand reality – a lesson from Dr. Seuss

Christa Avampato

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living; it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.” ~Dr. Seuss

Escaping through books is a valuable exercise whether you’re a writer, a reader, or both. When we let go of the world we know and enter into another world, that distance gives us greater perspective. We breathe a little easier. Our muscles relax. A little distance, a short escape, can help us see more clearly and act with more purpose.

If you’re wrestling through a challenge right now—personal or professional—take a break. Read a book, preferably one that has absolute nothing to do with the challenge you’re trying to manage. Let the dust settle and let your mind go somewhere else for a while. You’ll be surprised by what appears.

creativity

In the pause: Sometimes, a tree is a door, and other things you learn as a writer

Christa Avampato

Screen Shot 2017-07-03 at 11.43.57 PMSometimes, a tree is a door. This is a picture of the tree outside my apartment building. It has a doorknob attached to it. Naturally my writer brain wondered what would happen if I turned it and what secret world it concealed. So obviously, that’s somehow going in the second book in the Emerson Page series. Inspiration is everywhere. It’s our job to use it.

creativity

In the pause: Finished the second chapter of the prequel to my novel

Christa Avampato

On Thursday night, I went to a networking event and then had a chunk of free time before meeting my friend, David, for a drink after his show. I grabbed a piping hot slice of cheese pizza, eating properly off of a paper plate while walking around Hell’s Kitchen. It was a perfect, cool evening that filled me with inspiration and possibility. Then I settled in for dessert, coffee, and wine at the wine bar where I was meeting David. I sat down and wrote the second chapter of the prequel to my novel, long-hand in my notebook. It’s told from the perspective of Oliver, Emerson’s father. It didn’t go at all the way I planned. I didn’t see any of it coming until the words came flowing out of my pen.

This is what happens when we spend a lot of time with characters. We don’t have to worry about what they’ll say or do next. We just sit down, tune out our world, and tune into their world to watch, listen, and get it all down as authentically, honestly, and quickly as we can. The story broke my heart. The characters say and do things that they regret. They hurt each other and love each other in equal measure. They’re stubborn, intelligent, and righteous. They’re real people with deep flaws and immense gifts. They’ll be their own undoing and their own saviors. They’ll have to be.

This second chapter will be released to the members of my mailing list on Saturday, July 1st. To receive this exclusive content, add your information to my mailing list.

creativity

In the pause: As a writer, you can shake the world

Christa Avampato

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” ~Gandhi

Writers, you are leaving a legacy with every word you get down. Your words can change hearts and mind. Thy can connect you to people, and connect people to one another. If you write what you wish to see, you can then build it and inspire others to help you create that vision. You are brave to tell the world what you think and how you feel. So many people keep themselves and their thoughts locked away from others. I urge you now to tell your stories. There are people who need to hear them. There are people for whom your stories will help them get through a difficult time. Your work has value but only if you share it. Sharing is caring. Writing is giving. Care and give.

 

creativity

In the pause: People will tell you that you’re not a writer. Ignore them and write.

Christa Avampato

“There are always going to be skeptics. Prove them wrong.” ~Robert Kiyosaki

10 years ago this month, I made a pledge to write every day and it’s a pledge I’ve kept. Being a writer was the only thing I ever really wanted to be. I had a lot of people in my life who were very supportive of that path. But there were skeptics, some of them very loud. Once a close friend of mine told another close friend of mine that I was wasting my time trying to be a writer. I should just focus on my business career because that was something I was good at, and being a writer wasn’t. I was shocked and hurt. It stung. A lot. To be honest, it still stings all these years later. It shouldn’t, but it does.

On your path as a writer, wherever you might be right now, you may encounter similar people. And it may surprise you who those people turn out to be. Skepticism can really hurt, but it can also make you very strong. When my friend said that about me, I was upset and I decided right then and there that I was going to prove him wrong. I was going to keep writing every day and I was going to get good at it, very good at it.

And you know what I found? His opinion really didn’t have anything to do with my writing. I wasn’t writing for him. I was writing for the people I could help, and I was writing to bring myself joy. I love writing. I am intensely passionate about my craft, sharing my work, and inspiring others to write. It’s the work I’m meant to do.

The skeptics are always going to be there. Turn down the volume of their voices to zero. They aren’t for you and you aren’t for them. Send them on their way—in the opposite direction that you’re going. Move toward your own voice and your own writing.

 

creativity

In the pause: How every author writes a book

Christa Avampato

“When your why is big enough, you will find your how.” ~Les Brown

From the base of the mountain, the climb always looks long and difficult, even impossible. Every climb, no matter how tough, progresses the same way—one movement at a time. Every book ever written has been written the same way—one word at a time, by first time authors and master storytellers alike. When you sit down to write you are taking part in a great ritual that has been around since the beginning of human language. Let the strength of that ritual carry you.

There are plenty of reasons to not do the work. Our distractions are endless, and when we use up the distractions we have, we can always find or make new ones.

Do this: give yourself five minutes. Just get something down. Anything. See where it takes you. It doesn’t have to be great. It doesn’t even have to be good. It just has to be yours. One word at a time. That’s all you have to do right now.

creativity

In the pause: Why I love writing fantasy fiction books

Christa Avampato

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” ~Neil Gaiman, Coraline

“No one is too old for fairy tales.” ~Anonymous

The remarkable thing about fiction is that it can be such a help when trying to survive and thrive in the real world. Turn to any news source and you’ll see our country is in the midst of some bizarre twists and turns. Fiction can help us survive these kinds of circumstances by giving us a brief reprieve and it can help us thrive by showing us what’s possible. I wrote my book to help readers feel less alone, give them strength, and fortifying them with hope. Though it’s fantasy, it’s rooted in the very real circumstances of coping with loss, pursuing truth, and finding the will to love in the darkest of times.

Fiction teaches us that there are dragons everywhere. The good news is that there are warriors everywhere, too, in fiction and in the real world. Our protagonists in fiction inspire us to be the warriors the world needs.

 

creativity

In the pause: My author’s note for my book, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters

Christa Avampato

It took me some time to write the author’s note for my book and I decided to structure it as a letter to young adult readers. I wanted to tell them why I wrote this book for them and to let them know that their creativity and ideas are important to me, and to the world. Here it is. (https://emersonpage.com is under construction and coming soon!)

Dear young adult,

I wrote this book for you for many reasons. One of the biggest is that we don’t have enough women and girls at the center of young adult literature. So few books feature female protagonists, and there are almost no books in which a female protagonist takes control of her own life and destiny. As a young adult, I wanted someone to listen to me, to see me. Really listen to my ideas, my hopes, and my dreams, and care enough to understand how I saw the world. And I wanted someone to believe that I could make my dreams happen.

That hope brought Emerson Page into my imagination. A teenager who builds her own path through resilience, courage, and confidence, her touchstones are love and compassion. She’s strong and brave, and she cares about others—exactly the heroine I wish I had when I was her age. She’s the heroine you deserve to have now, and I’m so excited for you to meet her.

I want you to believe in the power of your creative spirit. It’s my greatest wish for you that you live the most beautiful lives you can imagine. Develop your mind, your heart, and your hands. They are the three most powerful tools you have to build a better world, one of your own design. You can’t always choose what happens to you. You can always choose your energy level, enthusiasm, and sense of hopefulness, and they will carry you through difficult times.

Life will undoubtedly hand you setbacks. When that happens, don’t give up. Make the setback mean something. Use it as fuel to work even harder. I always wanted to write a book and have it published. That has been one of my biggest dreams. I spent five years thinking about Emerson, writing down notes and ideas here and there. Then I spent two years writing her story, and another year pitching it and getting it through production.

Fourteen people rejected this book before I found my publisher. (And those are just the ones who bothered to send a rejection reply at all. Many others never even did that.) Don’t be afraid of rejection. Learn from it, but don’t let it stop you from moving forward. Your ideas have merit. Keep looking for the people who appreciate you, and don’t stop until you find them. You find what you look for. Believing is seeing. The book you hold in your hands right now is proof that dreams do come true so long as you don’t give up.

This book is also about community, and the power we have when we believe in ourselves and in others. Be good to each other. And when you see someone in crisis, don’t walk by. Help. You would want that help if the tables were turned, and someday they will be. Life is about give and take, and I’ve found that the more I give, the more it comes back to me.

More than anything, this book tells the story of a young woman finding her way in a world that is often confusing and frustrating. The same thing happens to us from time to time at every age. When that happens to me, I look to the stars. They remind me that we’re literally surrounded by miracles. That we are miracles. We are the stars and the stars are us, and we’re all connected.

When Jasper explains Emerson’s ancestry to her in the Library of Imagination, when Samuel sits with Max in the Crooked Willow Café, and when Nora finds Truman in the In-between, an adult is supporting and encouraging a young person who feels alone. No matter how old you are, I hope this book makes you feel less alone.

Whenever I feel down about the state of society, I remember that you will one day be in the driver’s seat, and that helps me to keep going. You are the hope and light of this world. I’m cheering you on and I’m rooting for you. I believe in your value and the value of your ideas. The world needs you.

I always welcome the chance to connect with readers; it’s one of the best things about being a writer. I look forward to the conversation.

Wishing you the most magical life you can imagine,
Christa

Email:
christa.avampato@gmail.com

Twitter:
https://www.twitter.com/iamemersonpage
https://www.twitter.com/christanyc

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorChrista

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/iamemersonpage
https://www.instagram.com/christarosenyc

Websites:
https://www.emersonpage.com
https://christaavampato.com

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