Member Spotlight: Rebecca Ann Keller

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Because creating and experiencing the lives and viewpoints of others feeds our empathy and imaginations.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? Telling myself I can get up and stop after (8, 10, however many) minutes, but forcing myself to sit down and bang out something, anything, during that time. That it can be horrible, and after the timer goes off, I have my own permission to stop. Often I find I can keep going, that whatever internal resistance I was feeling has dissolved and I am reconnecting with the characters/project again.

What is your favorite time to write? I don’t know, really. whenever I can find some time. Maybe mid morning, when things have quieted down around my home but I am well-caffeinated?

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Persistence, perseverance–learning how to receive feedback and criticism without defensiveness, and having the judgment to be able to discern what is helpful and what is not.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? I’m not sure if this is any different than other times, but the ability to connect with people different than myself.

Rebecca Keller’s You Should Have Known is out now with Crooked Lane Books.