Aug 19, 2026 · 36 min · 13 segments
**ISBW 22.17** So much to talk about! Worldcon is looming, and we take listener questions. - How do you handle writing after a long break? - What books do you recommend for…
Mer LaffertyHost
It's a first draft, you know? I think it's, uh, it needs some work, but I'm pretty happy with it.

You are always my first visit when my life settles down to get me to start thinking about writing.

Second, if you don't know where you were going, I, and I'm speaking this 100% from experience.

If you pick it up and you read it, and you don't know where you were going, that's okay.

So if you go in another direction and you know it wasn't the one you pre- you initially intended on, it doesn't matter because it's your book or your project.

In my first book, I ended a chapter with someone knocking at the door, and life and crap got in the way.

I had a toddler at the time, and I remember I picked up the book like a couple of months later, and I'm like, "I have no idea who's at the door." No clue.

Didn't know who was at the door, didn't know what they were there to say, didn't know what would take the story.

I think one of the things younger or beginning writers don't allow themselves is you can put down a project and come back to it.

It's a first draft, you know? I think it's, uh, it needs some work, but I'm pretty happy with it.

You are always my first visit when my life settles down to get me to start thinking about writing.

Second, if you don't know where you were going, I, and I'm speaking this 100% from experience.

If you pick it up and you read it, and you don't know where you were going, that's okay.

So if you go in another direction and you know it wasn't the one you pre- you initially intended on, it doesn't matter because it's your book or your project.

In my first book, I ended a chapter with someone knocking at the door, and life and crap got in the way.

I had a toddler at the time, and I remember I picked up the book like a couple of months later, and I'm like, "I have no idea who's at the door." No clue.

Didn't know who was at the door, didn't know what they were there to say, didn't know what would take the story.

I think one of the things younger or beginning writers don't allow themselves is you can put down a project and come back to it.
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