Jane Bryant Quinn

How did you become a writer?

I wrote and I read. As a journalist-to-be, I practiced all the time, in school publications and summer jobs on newspapers. And I read good writers, especially in American history and literature and journalism classics, such as Lincoln Steffens and Ida Tarbell.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

Like many journalists, I learned my craft on the job -- seeing what worked and what didn't. I have also had some fine editors.

When and where do you write?

I write from an office in my home, and every day. I'm slow in the morning, and pick up speed in the evening.

What are you working on now?

I write a column for AARP Bulletin. I co-founded an internet company, putting community news online -- that's management and writer training, not writing, and takes a lot of time. I'm gathering string for another book.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

Never, in the sense of not knowing what to write, or being able to write. On the other hand, I'm a slow writer -- squeezing out every word, rewriting all the time. When I hate what I've written, or can't find the thread, I get back to it the next day. Then, I can usually see my way through the problem.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Write, write, write, read, read, read. Journalists should read history, biography and politics, as well as literature. And a grammar book, please.

Bio: I'm a commentator on personal finance and, newly, an internet entrepreneur. My best-selling book, “Making the Most of Your Money,” is a comprehensive guide to personal finance. First published in 1991, it was named by Consumers Union as the best personal finance book on the market. The third edition—Making the Most of Your Money NOW-- was published in January, 2010.  “Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People,” published in 2006, is my personal list of the best, low-cost strategies for saving more money, finding good insurance, planning for college tuition, and investing for retirement.

In 2009, my husband and I founded a company called Main Street Connect, which brings local news to communities online. (Almost no one under 40 reads news on paper anymore.) Currently, I write a monthly column for AARP Bulletin, in print and online. My personal website is JaneBryantQuinn.com.

My past career includes a twice-weekly newspaper column syndicated to 250 papers by the Washington Post; a personal finance column in Newsweek magazine; a monthly column for Good Housekeeping; and a bi-weekly column for Bloomberg.com. On PBS television, I co-hosted an investment series, “Beyond Wall Street,” and hosted my own program, “Take Charge!” I worked ten years for CBS News, first on the “CBS Morning News,” then on “The Evening News with Dan Rather.”

I graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont and got my training writing for newsletters. I'm married, with two children and six stepchildren. I was born in Niagara Falls, NY.

Shalom Auslander

How did you become a writer?

A lot of really bad shit happened to me when I was younger, and I can’t rap. Also, I don’t like people very much, and there aren’t many jobs whose description includes spending long hours alone in a dark room with the blinds drawn.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

Beckett. Kafka. Vonnegut. Heller. O’Connor. Bill Hicks. Lenny Bruce. The Ramones. The Dead Milkmen. Al Qaeda. Charlie Brown. Bugs Bunny.

When and where do you write?

All day. Anywhere there isn’t internet service.

What are you working on now?

Dunno. I’m walking a lot. A few miles every day. That usually sorts it out.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

I’ve suffered from caring too much. From giving a shit. But it passes.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Don’t give a shit. Don’t care. Books, until recently, were dangerous: banned, burned, watched. Write something dangerous. Say something you shouldn’t. Blow something up. But well.

Bio: Born in 1970, no college, no Iowa Writer’s Whatever, no Yaddo. Author of “Beware of God: Stories,” “Foreskin’s Lament,” and “Hope: A Tragedy.”

Chuck Wendig

How did you become a writer?

That's always a strange question, because I feel like the answer should be, "I was bathed in gamma radiation," or, "I was bitten by a radioactive Harlan Ellison." Really the answer is fairly straightforward: I wanted to become a writer, and so I worked to become one.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

I read a lot as a child: Lloyd Alexander, C.S. Lewis. I read a lot as a teenager: Robert McCammon, Christopher Moore. I read a lot in college: Joe Lansdale, James Joyce, Robin Hobb. I had a great professor in college, too -- Mike Kobre. Plus the standard gamut of great writing books by the likes of Lawrence Block and Stephen King.

Oh! And life. Life is the biggest writing influence of them all.

When and where do you write?

Anywhere and anywhere I have to, really, but the more common answer day to day is, I get up at 6AM and write until I'm done for the day (which is a swiftly moving target, this word "done"). I write in my office, which overlooks a forest so thick I can see nothing but that forest.

What are you working on now?

Writing BAIT DOG. Outlining the next Miriam Black book and also BEYOND DINOCALYPSE.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

Mmmnope.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Finish what you started. You can't move forward until you finish something. Though, to be clear, I dispense a great heaping helping of dubious writing wisdom over at my blog, terribleminds.com, which is strongly writer-focused.

Chuck Wendig is a novelist, screenwriter, and game designer. He's the author of DOUBLE DEAD, BLACKBIRDS, and DINOCALYPSE NOW, and is co-writer of the short film PANDEMIC, the film HiM, and the Emmy-nominated digital narrative COLLAPSUS. He lives in Pennsylvania with wife, taco terrier, and tiny human.