Hi, I’m E. R. Angstead.
E. R. Angstead lives in North Carolina where she obsesses over storytelling! Elizabeth has spent the last eight years working as a middle school and high school science teacher and a photojournalistic wedding photographer.
As a legally blind person with a vivid view of the world, she loves incorporating the creative lens of combining storytelling and curriculum with all of her endeavors. When reading, she always tabs any part of a story that integrates luscious prose with science concepts!
When the pandemic hit, and education haulted, E. R. Angstead took this time to embrace a burning need to fill the void. It was during this time that she wrote A Treaty of Souls and Secrets—her heart story, one of a woman in need of happiness and a dragon shifter in need of her.
As the world slowly rotated back to normalcy, the writing bug had hit, and the words wouldn’t slow down. During the school year, she wrote Corundum—a story that personifies the inequities of education and the hope for a better future.
Currently, she is in the process of querying, while remaining true to her heart and writing as much as she can. With three full books written, and plenty on the way, she hopes to soon share her stories with the world!
These are a few of my favorite things:
Her Approach
Writing and literature is a topic that has been a longstanding passion for E. R. Angstead. The process of critical writing looks different for everyone. Below is a snapshot of her process!
Dream it
Close your eyes, and dream. Imagine a world, imagine what makes that world so incredibly wonderful or incredible horrid. Now the fun begins… Let your imagination run wild.
Dream up characters and adventures and love and betrayal.
Dream up hope and hardship.
Dream until the stars and space between become an endless vat of opportunities.
Build it
Time for pen and paper or nimble fingers and keyboards. Plot. Plot. Plot. World build. Ask questions about your world and its people; answer those questions.
Find your prefered writing structure and pace out the world building and journey of your characters. E. R. Angstead uses a combination of Save the Cat, the Hero’s Journey, and the 5-Act structure.
Plot everything out. Then plot it again. Don’t forget to add a bit of spice and a dead end or two that your characters must overcome!
Write it
Don’t overthink this. Let your fingers flow and the words pour from your head. E. R. Angstead can often get distracted, so she loves to use the voice-to-text feature to keep her mind moving when her fingers stray to her phone or food. Nothing you write must be earth-shatteringly graceful in its perfection. But it must be complete. And it must be true to your heart. Try out different voices in your writing. Try out different POVs. But whatever you do, you must push through—you must write.
When in doubt, write it out.
Tips & Tricks
When E. R. Angstead writes, she formats her manuscripts to look “book-like”.
Make a writing, goal-based schedule. E. R. Angstead aims to write 2,000 words per writing session.
Use NaNoWriMo as a way to visually represent your writing targets! Charts and visuals are a great motivator!
SNACKS! Always have snacks.