Tavis J. Hampton lives in Indianapolis where he works as a library media specialist. He writes under the pen name Tavis Adibudeen and over the past few decades has written hundreds of poems, short stories and newspaper and magazine articles. His first novel, The Golden Scrolls, was published in September 2006.
How long have you been writing?
From the time I was a child. My first book was "published" when I was in first grade. My mother still has the only copy. It was a story about our dog, Aristotle, running away. All of the students in our class made their own books using construction paper and paste. The teacher laminated the pages and bound them together.
I started writing articles for the school newspaper in high school and also wrote for a local newspaper as an intern. In 1999 I started a non-profit Islamic web site that is now one of the most well-respected in the community at-large, with thousands of visitors each month from all over the world. As editor, I do not do as much writing as I used to, but I still try to publish a research essay every other month.
Together with a good friend of mine, we established the Muslim Writers Society, where people can freely publish their works on our site. There are also plans for an anthology. Currently, we have over 400 members.
Do you write every day? What sort of targets do you set yourself when you are writing?
I do write every day, but with the responsibilities of family and a full-time job, I do not always have time to work on my books.
I have, however, become a regular blogger. The amount of time I spend writing varies according to my schedule. Sometimes I might spend several hours in one day. Other days I don't get to write at all.
When I was writing The Golden Scrolls, I set a firm date for completion, but I did not set targets for the number of pages or chapters. I finished the book ahead of schedule. It was actually suppose to be completed by January 2007. I accomplished my goal by taking about an hour each day to write. Although I was not able to write every single day, I wrote more often than if I had not set that goal for myself at all.
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