Off the Page: Writers Talk About Beginnings, Endings, and Everything In Between
How do writers approach a new novel? Do they start with plot, character, or theme? A. S. Byatt starts with color. E. L. Doctorow begins with an image. In Off the Page, authors tell us how they work, giving insight into their writing process. Gathered from some of today’s best writers—Paul Auster, Martin Amis, Gish Jen, Dan Chaon, Alice McDermott, and many others interviewed on washingtonpost.com’s “Off the Page” series—host Carole Burns has woven their wisdom into chapters illuminating to any...
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A guide where today’s best writers reveal their secrets.Stacy Russo - Library JournalEditor Burns started interviewing writers in October 2003 for the Washington Post's online literary chat sessions, Off the Page." Realizing she was collecting real gems led her to shape excerpts from the conversations into this book, in which popular contemporaries like Joyce Carol Oates, A.S. Byatt, Michael Cunningham, Gish Jen, Jhumpa Lahiri, Tobias Wolff, and Alice McDermott comment on various topics mostly relating to fiction. They discuss the ideas behind their stories, how their approaches to writing stories vs. novels differ, the revision process, how they determine when a work is complete, the influence of place, sources of inspiration, and more. In the final section, "Words of Wisdom," the interviewees provide advice to those on the path toward becoming writers. This is not a writing manual, yet it may provide insight and comfort to those who are struggling with their craft. A larger audience for the book includes readers who enjoy discovering the behind-the-scenes work of the writing life. Recommended for larger public libraries and academic libraries supporting writing programs. [The book has, in any case, inspired Burns: she is currently at work on her first novel.-Ed.]
Preface 9Introduction Marie Arana 15In the Beginning Was...(A) The Word, (B) A Bunch of Words, (C) Not a Single Damned Word 25Haven't I Seen You Somewhere Before? How Characters Come to Life 36What's It All About? The Ideas Behind the Stories 49Truth or Dare? Changing Facts to Make a Story More Real 61Home Is Where the Art Is: How Writers Are Influenced by Place 75All That Jazz: Playing with Language and Style to Suit the Story 87The Long and Short of It: The Differences Between Writing Novels and Writing Short Stories 100Lovers and Other Strangers: Sex and Love in Literature 110If at First You Don't Succeed...Revise, Revise Again 123Are We There Yet? Knowing When a Novel or Story Is Finished 134The Writing Life: Springs of Hope, Winters of Despair 145Musing About the Muse: How Writers Find Inspiration When It Doesn't Find Them 158Who Reads This Stuff? How Writers Think About Audience-and Reviewers 167Good Writers Borrow, Great Writers Steal: The Writers Whom Writers Love, and Why 178I Knew Him When...When Writers Realized They Were Going to Be Writers 193Words of Wisdom: What Writers Wish Someone Had Told Them 204Authors' Biographies 215Acknowledgments 233
\ Library JournalEditor Burns started interviewing writers in October 2003 for the Washington Post's online literary chat sessions, Off the Page." Realizing she was collecting real gems led her to shape excerpts from the conversations into this book, in which popular contemporaries like Joyce Carol Oates, A.S. Byatt, Michael Cunningham, Gish Jen, Jhumpa Lahiri, Tobias Wolff, and Alice McDermott comment on various topics mostly relating to fiction. They discuss the ideas behind their stories, how their approaches to writing stories vs. novels differ, the revision process, how they determine when a work is complete, the influence of place, sources of inspiration, and more. In the final section, "Words of Wisdom," the interviewees provide advice to those on the path toward becoming writers. This is not a writing manual, yet it may provide insight and comfort to those who are struggling with their craft. A larger audience for the book includes readers who enjoy discovering the behind-the-scenes work of the writing life. Recommended for larger public libraries and academic libraries supporting writing programs. [The book has, in any case, inspired Burns: she is currently at work on her first novel.-Ed.]\ —Stacy Russo\ \ \
