Member Spotlight: Matthew Peters

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Writing allows for the exploration of ideas and perspectives that can get overlooked in mainstream society. By exposing readers to different ideas and providing insight into the experiences of people other than themselves, writers can help promote exposure of a variety of viewpoints. Hopefully, that exposure can lead to tolerance, and tolerance to acceptance. I believe that in today’s society, acceptance of others is of paramount importance.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? My tried and tested remedy to cure writer’s block can be summed up in one word: preparation. I do a pretty extensive plot synopsis before I start writing a book, so I know where the book is heading. This reduces my anxiety when I write and fortunately prevents writer’s block from forming in the first place.

What is your favorite time to write? My favorite time to write is in the morning, shortly after exercising.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Write about what you love. Write about something that gets you out of bed in the morning and inspires you for long enough to write a novel.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? What excites me about being a writer in today’s age is the impact a writer can have in so many different places across the globe. A well-told, good story can spread to an extent that just wasn’t possible not that long ago.

Matthew Peters’s The Ignoble Lie is out now with Melange Books.