I'm a huge fan of psychological thrillers and suspense and would love to write in this genre one day, so this is the genre I would choose if I had to change the current genre I write in. I love writing young adult fantasy novels, but sometimes, it's nice to change things up.
I don't have a schedule. I write whenever I feel the urge to. Due to ill health, I don't have the luxury of creating much less sticking with routines, so I live my life in the moment. Whenever an idea comes to mind or a scene materialises inside my head, I just start writing. My motto: "Just write."
I never planned on becoming an author. I wanted to make movies, but, due to an accident, a new world opened up to me, and suddenly, I was on a different path. I chose to continue down that path and ended up with a YA fantasy trilogy. Writing as a career definitely wasn't on the cards for me. It was a beautiful accident, which I like to call fate.
They say "don't judge a book by its cover" for a reason, and it's because that's what people often do. I do it myself, so I know it's a fact. The cover is often the first thing a potential buyer notices about a book, so having a professional-looking cover is very important. Equally as important is the title. The two go hand-in-hand. The aim is to grab the reader's attention and cause such an impact that it makes the potential buyer's decision easy. You only get a few seconds to catch a potental buyer's eyes, so having an impactful title and cover is of great importance.
Fortunately, I haven't experienced writer's block just yet. Fingers crossed it stays that way. I would say just write whatever comes to mind. Even if the idea or scene sounds ridiculous, just write it down. You can always change it and edit it later. The important thing is to just get it out of your head. If nothing comes to mind, create. Let your imagination run wild. Put your life experience or your dreams and wishes into a bowl and mix and match. Start with a sentence a day, and then move on to a paragraph, and then a page ... You get the gist. Even if you write down ten words for the day, at least you wrote something. It's only writer's block if you don't write. Start with just a single word if you have to. The story you're going to write is already in your head, so you've done the hard part. You just have to get it out of your head.
If you're still stuck trying to get that story out of your head, write about the story you already know. You know your name, where you're from, what you want ... Until you find the story you're searching for, write the story you already know by heart. You'll probably get more than you bargained for.
