"I was a creature set among them from the magical world of television. Even after a year, children would sit in a group on the dirt of my courtyard to watch me do the simplest things as though watching television still: sweeping out my hut, coughing from the dust, spitting, mending my sandals, sharpening my machete, taking a sip of water from my gourd."
That's an excerpt from Tony D'Souza's Whiteman--a fictional account of his time in Peace Corps Ivory Coast that ended when a civil war rocked his host country. Over the course of a long freelance career, D'Souza learned how to write in strange places with tight deadlines.
This week he's our special guest, talking about new novel, The Konkans. Today he tells you how to keep writing no matter where you are.
Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality conversations with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing.
Jason Boog:
In an interview in 2006, you said: "I wrote articles for The New Yorker, Salon, Esquire, and a slew of other places in airport and hotel bars while on tour, by the way. I've discovered a lot about myself this year. One is that I can write on the road." Could you elaborate? What did writing on the road teach you? Any advice for fledgling writers looking to strike out as a traveling freelancer?
Click here to read D'Souza's advice about agents.
Click here to read D'Souza's advice about research.
Click here to read D'Souza's advice about building characters in a novel.
» Tony D'Souza Explains How To Write In An Airport from ThePublishingSpot
"I was a creature set among them from the magical world of television. Even after a year, children would sit in a group on the dirt of my courtyard to watch me do the simplest things as though watching television... [Read More]
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