Meet Author Amy Ayres

What’s one piece of advice you wish you’d known when you first started writing?

When most people start writing (likely when they are young and inexperienced), it’s a compulsion with little thought to the next steps.

It would help to know more about the publishing industry from a true insider rather than speculation from various articles and books that often change.

People might think, “Well, get your MFA, dummy,” but you typically don’t get that far until you are well out of college, and many people start writing in their adolescence with zero helpful information.

It would be nice to have something in front of you, like “Oh, you want to be a writer for a job, this is how you go about it.” But no one does that. Say you want to be a firefighter, someone will hand you a red hat and a hose.

What is a goal you’re still waiting to start? 

I have many goals; they are daily goals, just an endless running to-do list, but the big

goal, I think, is reaching out to indie local bookstores and libraries. It’s not hard to do,

but it’s just something I think I’ve avoided—but I think it’s time. I would love to see my

book in a shop window; it’s going to happen eventually.

Was there anything else you wanted to be, besides a writer, when you were a kid? 

I tell people that I wanted to be Audrey Hepburn when I was a little kid, but more accurately, I thought I could be Eliza Doolittle. I loved that musical to death, and I thought that her performance was really versatile. I didn’t call it that when I was five, but I knew there was something about being a serious/comic actress simultaneously and giving an honest performance that was important, somehow.

And it looked fun! After that, I meandered my way to writing, but I did a fair amount of singing and theater. It’s something I still enjoy doing, but the isolationist in me loves writing, retreating into inner worlds, and creating serious/comic female characters.

What is one kind of character (baker, ghost, strong female character) that every book you enjoy has in it?

I’d say the strong female lead is important, though it’s been overdone at this point, sadly. I think the lead has to be strong intellectually and not just physically.

She isn’t just “strong enough to stand up to a man,” but she’s strong enough to stand up to any antagonist, and then maybe not sometimes, because she is flawed and human. I also need her to have a sense of humor; that’s a big plus.

What do you do to unwind from stress? 

Stress is a pain, but manifests into exhaustion if I avoid resting for too long. I need to do a self-care routine: you know the drill: candles, bubble bath, trash TV.

If I remember to pace myself and not stretch myself too thin, I tend to avoid too much stress.

A great thing that helps me avoid the stress of my to-do list piling up in the first place is this body channeling discord I’m in. In it, I go through my list with other people, and we report our progress.

It’s been HUGE with helping me stay on task and remembering all the million and one things.

What are some helpful tips you would give a fellow writer who’s having a hard time plotting, developing, etc.? 

One hugely helpful thing is to remember that it’s normal and not an indication that you suck at writing. So, remembering that, even if you post a sticky note or something as a reminder, can be a good emotional boost. I have a background on my desktop that says, “I’m brave enough to suck at something,” and I think that takes some of the pressure off.

But as far as tackling the task and no longer avoiding it, I always suggest these steps:

Step 1. Sit and write about what pisses you off. I call this the angst letters or angst list or “list of grievances” a la Frank Costanza from Seinfeld. Journal it all out, and you will often find the blockage that way. Do what you will with them, burn them if they are incriminating, just get them out of you. You know you’re ready when you can take a long, deep breath, and your mind feels clear.

Step 2. Once your mind is feeling clear and you are ready to work, then you try to start. A rudimentary method you can start with that will grease your gears is called The Bridge Method. It’s essentially an easy way to visualize the 3 acts of your narrative and what drives your character through them.

• Act 1 is what brings them to the bridge.

• Act 2 is the act of beginning to cross the bridge.

• Act 3 is reaching the destination of crossing the bridge, and the main character’s realization that they’ve reached the other side and there is no more bridge.

  
  

This helps me ensure I have a solid, beginning, middle, and end and I’m not pantsing into oblivion. For a more in-depth version of this I have The Sandwich Method on my website.

Step 3.

Whenever you get stuck—always move around, try writing in new places, always try new things: like handwriting, using notecards, record your thoughts, use a card deck, just never chain yourself to a desk or it’ll never get done.

What would you tell your younger self not to care about?

I would tell her to stop caring about what other people think. And that applies to everything, not just writing.

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Do you have a question you'd like to ask Amy Ayres? Leave a comment below, and I'll make sure it gets to her!

Want to learn more about Amy?

Website: Amy Ayres Writes

Discord: Radical Neurodivergent Writers & Creative Discord

Instagram: @amyayreswrites

Find her novels here: The Luccee Winterscott Series (3-book series)

Subscribe to Her Newsletter: TLW Series News

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All the best,

Kara