Ask the Author: Charles W. Bechtel
Answered Questions (10)
Charles W. Bechtel
Are you seeking from me assistane to build a bibliography of related books? I don't do that. I also do not think Nick had "tendencies". I think he had a homosexual experience as illuminated in the book, and as the book is intended to be read through lenses, that episode becomes the portal through which the narrator sees Gatsby, especially revealing his attitude toward the inevitable destructiveness of heterosexual "love".
Charles W. Bechtel
Yes. Cwb1953@yahoo.com.
Charles W. Bechtel
Sent you an email
Charles W. Bechtel
His heels sinking in the damp soil of the fresh grave, as aware of the two women watching him as he was of the finger cold in his pocket, he thought carefully of what he said next, "I think one of you should be next."
Charles W. Bechtel
Of all my books, the latest is easy to spot: the ideas came from conversations about my wife's early years in a Catholic orphanage. But for most things, I get a germ of an idea in the form of an event, but then can't move forward until I have three things all contributing. Those three things vary. Might be a sound, a response by a character (word or action) and an maybe otherwise irrelevant element, such as a dented cup found in the ashes of an abandoned and old campfire. I truly cannot push forward, either, unless I know exactly how the story will end, and what sentence will end it. It rarely changes in my writing towards it.
Charles W. Bechtel
Born that way. Sometimes, though, I need a thump to my imagination. Often I'll go to my library, crack open a book, read a few sentences to see how they work (never what they say.) Often, a poem I am reading will crack open a poem I desire writing, (I do not often write poems, but they are a nice form.) And nothing, nothing, inspires me as much as a deadline, but they are far too few, so i have to make up my own. When proofing, ten pages. When writing, 500 words. 1000 if I am feeling adventurous. I do have a friend who can churn out 10,000 words a day, but I feel 9000 of them should go away. (I never say that to her, though. Otherwise she'd be competition!)
Charles W. Bechtel
I usually have three or four projects going. Today I am proofing my latest novel (The Lady from Spain), then will be digging into research on a nonfiction book, will be thereafter pushing my sixth book in a mystery series to completion. Lastly, as the stay at home husband, I'll be working on dinner for my wife.
Charles W. Bechtel
Learn how a sentence works for a reader. I read too many published sentences that barely work, and almost as many that merely serve to dish out boring, inessential information. It is not enough to make every word count. Every sentence has to count as well.
Charles W. Bechtel
Usually, autonomy. Sometimes it's the marvelous feeling I get when reading something I wrote that is better than anything I could ever write.
Charles W. Bechtel
I don't have writer's block, ever, because I know there's no external, mystical force telling me "Don't write." I tell me to don't write, and it's usually caused by my inability to recognize my own shortcomings. So I deal with the decision to not write by telling myself to stfu and get over myself. Doesn't always work, but it works most of the time.
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