Member Spotlight: Echo Heron

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? We learn to read so that we might read to learn about … everything else in the world. I write to connect with my fellow humans. I write to share new ideas, to open new paths and worlds to others. I love it when people tell me that something I’ve written has made them laugh or cry or changed their lives in some way.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? It depends on the severity. If it’s minor then I take a walk into nature or clean the house. If it’s severe, I try to find the underlying problem and work through it word by word. I might try going in a completely different direction until the creative spirit returns. (and for most writers it ALWAYS does)

What is your favorite time to write? Afternoon into late night. Many ideas come to me while I’m walking and I hear a bit of conversation in passing, or see some small event that triggers a scene in my mind.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Show don’t tell. Break the rules. Let your characters use all five senses. Live in the mind of your characters. Let them lead the way. And, have your ending strong and ready as you begin writing.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? Having to stretch and update how I write for a younger generation.

Echo Heron’s Intensive Care: The Story of a Nurse (Revised) is out now with Heron Quill Press.