Member Spotlight: Beth Dotson Brown

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Reading and writing have long been important to me as ways to step into someone else’s life and see the world through their eyes. I’ve always hoped that doing that would make me a more understanding person. I hope the same for other readers and writers.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? I take a walk. I might try to see the world through my characters eyes as I’m walking, imagine how they would be experience the walk. Or I have a conversation with the character and hope they’re willing to talk.

What is your favorite time to write? I’m freshest in the morning, though I’ll write whenever I have the time. My favorite place to write is away at a cabin in the woods.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? I think it’s imperative to get the first draft all onto paper (or the computer screen) so you have something to work with. To me, it’s like a potter gathering the clay. Once it’s all there you can shape it, change it, decorate it. But you have to gather it all before you can truly begin to create the art.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? There are so many ways to connect with readers today. I look forward to seeing how that works with my debut novel.

Beth Dotson Brown’s Rooted in Sunrise is out today with Koehler Books.