Interview with Chelsea Blackburn

Khayrun Gure: What is your favourite book and why?

Chelsea Blackburn: I don’t really have a favourite book. A lot of the books I’ve read have given me equal value in entertainment. I guess I would say I like a lot of books by Andre Assamon. His writing and essays can be satiric at times, and his style of writing is singular compared to what I previously encountered. The imagery he conveys is very evocative so when you finish one of his books you kind of feel that you need some time to return to reality.

KG: What do you do to get in your character’s head?

CB: Typically I’ll try to put aside any distractions to allow for scenes and dialogue between the characters to appear in my mind, and to flush out their motivations and personality.

KG: How do you manage your work schedule while writing?

CB: So usually I set aside a few days to focus exclusively on writing. I feel it’s super important to write without a critical eye in the first stages of writing. That way I can focus on producing more content rather than the quality of it. I’m kind of a perfectionist and this is important, so that I can produce work without the anxiety of making it exactly perfect.

KG: What helps you to continue writing after you first start?

CB: I think the best strategy is to start the work very early because my motivation can shift

from day to day. It’s also important to rely on discipline. For example, I want to get done x

amount of pages per day even if I don’t feel motivated because I know I have to do this much to get to my goal.

KG: What do you consider your strength when writing?

CB: that is a tough one, I think it depends on the genre and the passion I have for a

specific work but I feel like I’m sometimes good at imagery, sometimes character building and sometimes plot. I don’t have a specific strength, it’s just based on what I’m invested in.