So much of writing a novel is a matter of arousing your own curiosity and then paying attention to the cues you yourself set down as you write. Isak Dinensen said, "I write a little every day without hope, without despair." If you can do that, and if you can let your own desire to know propel you into narrative, you can fill those numbered pages of... See more

In the case of my novel, The Bright Forever , I wanted to propel the reader and myself along a trail of mystery, so I opened by having a character say this, "I'm not saying I didn't do it. I don't know." Hmm...what's the it , and why wouldn't he know whether he was the responsible party? And if he didn't do it, who might have? All these questions... See more

I don't know about you, but I'd prefer a more practical strategy for getting the job done than just imagining I could get to the end by putting numbers on blank pages. My own experience with writing novels tells me that the first steps onto the page begin to lay out a trail I can follow as I go. I'm convinced we can learn to let our novels write... See more