Everyone needs a bit of humor in their life, just to make it bearable at times. Pat Snyder, author of The Dog Ate My Planner, is the perfect person to bring such an important aspect, easily, to a person's life. Recently, Ms. Snyder took the time to answer a few questions and give readers a bit of a peek the type of person she is and I know you will be as delighted as I was!
Could you please tell us about your writing process?
I generally write short pieces, 500-600 words, and mind map each one before I start – horizontally in a spiral notebook. It’s not so scary starting that way and gets me to the detail I want.
Do you have any particular habits that you take part in while writing? By that I mean certain music you like to listen to, foods you like to eat, environment that helps you write better, etc.
I clean off my desk, so there are not a lot distracting to-dos in sight and I can concentrate on the project. If I get stuck, I go for a walk. Because my writing/eating is so mindless, I try to stick with carrots and celery. On an undisciplined day, I can go through a bag of Trader Joe’s dark chocolate covered pretzels in 3.5 minutes. For the antioxidants.
Where do you get your ideas and inspirations?
Since aggravations fuel my humor writing, I eavesdrop a lot in restaurants and elevators to pick up on universal aggravations. I also lurk on Facebook for ideas. Someone’s usually venting.
How do you come up with the names of your characters? It almost seems as though, as an author, you have the continuous fun of naming children!
The closest I’ve come to naming characters as a humorist is giving nicknames to real people. My late husband, for example, appears as Gadget Man because he never saw an electronic device he didn’t like. My hot-tempered younger son appears as HT, for Hair Trigger.
What do you want readers to take away from reading The Dog Ate My Planner?
If you can, simplify your life. If some dog still gets you from out in left field, then learn to laugh away the chaos.
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