How Does a Novel Happen?
Book Review of "The Secret Miracle, edited by Daniel Alarcon."
How does a novel happen? Did you ever want to crawl inside a novelist's head and explore what that creative and technical process is like? I found this book at my local library and what a find it is. Because I am a novelist and short story writer, a quick page through the book hooked me. The author asked over 50 novelists a series of questions about their novel writing and their answers are incredibly insightful about their doubts, fears, strategies and experiences. How much research do novelists do? Stephen King and Haruki Murakami claim they do no research. Amy Tan says she does too much from fear of being inaccurate. Anne Enright advises to do the bulk of the research AFTER you've written the novel, not before. How much do novelists know about the plot before they begin? Shelley Jackson says "not a thing." Rick Moody knows "the beginning and something about the end ... discovery is the fun part." Anne Enright "doesn't do plot." Haruki Murakami says he knows "almost nothing" about plot before he begins. And it's not just about writing; it's about how novelists read fiction too. Michael Chabon reads "carefully and with an eye toward theft; always thinking, 'I'd like to try something like that." Want to know about structure and outlines? Colm Toibin only outlines in his head; he finds that making notes about his novel is a way of "wrecking its sanctity." Jonathan Lethem never outlines and avoid putting them into "any kind of sensible order." Cristina Garcia, Stephen King, Susan Choi, Nell Freudenberger, Roddy Doyle, and others do NOT outline either. I can admire these writers who break all the writing rules and still write successful novels. Want to hear how these 50 authors discover and develop characters? Get this book. It's a wealth of thought on the variations of how writers create novels and the personal paths they take to get there.
How does a novel happen? Did you ever want to crawl inside a novelist's head and explore what that creative and technical process is like? I found this book at my local library and what a find it is. Because I am a novelist and short story writer, a quick page through the book hooked me. The author asked over 50 novelists a series of questions about their novel writing and their answers are incredibly insightful about their doubts, fears, strategies and experiences. How much research do novelists do? Stephen King and Haruki Murakami claim they do no research. Amy Tan says she does too much from fear of being inaccurate. Anne Enright advises to do the bulk of the research AFTER you've written the novel, not before. How much do novelists know about the plot before they begin? Shelley Jackson says "not a thing." Rick Moody knows "the beginning and something about the end ... discovery is the fun part." Anne Enright "doesn't do plot." Haruki Murakami says he knows "almost nothing" about plot before he begins. And it's not just about writing; it's about how novelists read fiction too. Michael Chabon reads "carefully and with an eye toward theft; always thinking, 'I'd like to try something like that." Want to know about structure and outlines? Colm Toibin only outlines in his head; he finds that making notes about his novel is a way of "wrecking its sanctity." Jonathan Lethem never outlines and avoid putting them into "any kind of sensible order." Cristina Garcia, Stephen King, Susan Choi, Nell Freudenberger, Roddy Doyle, and others do NOT outline either. I can admire these writers who break all the writing rules and still write successful novels. Want to hear how these 50 authors discover and develop characters? Get this book. It's a wealth of thought on the variations of how writers create novels and the personal paths they take to get there.
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