This Explo artist and fantasy writer reflects on how she has improved her own writing this summer and shares her excitement about the opportunity to meet a famous author at Explo.
If I had to describe what I'm passionate about, I'd have to say it'd be writing fantasy novels and drawing. At Explo, I’m taking a fantasy writing course. Last week, I took a cartooning and comics workshop, which is great because I can combine both my interests in art and writing. In fantasy writing, I’m learning a lot to develop my writing. Since I’ve been here, I’ve been able to develop characters that I started before coming here using the character-building techniques my instructor taught us in class.
If I could give writers one piece of advice, I would advise new writers to keep trying to write and to never give up. There are going to be times when you hit writer's block, and in those times, you just need to rest and work on something else. Writing a lot is a good thing, but when you write too much, you exhaust your ideas and suddenly everything just seems unoriginal and bland and boring. That’s why it’s important to take a few days to do something that you don’t usually do.
I can’t even believe that we’re meeting a famous writer [Kelly Corrigan] tonight at Explo! It’s been my dream to meet a famous writer (or any professional writer, really), so I’m so excited that Explo is giving us the opportunity to meet one tonight! I hope that getting the chance to talk to one and find out how she has made her writing so powerful will inspire me with my own writing.
Jaryd Frankel