inform and shape life

Exploiting Writers

"There are plenty of places that are built on the business model of exploiting writers by not paying them.  Are you going to let them do that to you?"

feel the atmosphere

The First Line Comes and I Start

"I know nothing at all.  Nothing.  The first line comes and I start.  I always thought that I began with something talking to me, but I realized it's not true.  I begin by seeing something and then it's translated into a voice talking to me and then I follow it and see where it will go."

Give Your Mind a Chance to Refresh

"Breaks give your mind a chance to refresh.  I write multiple books at once, and I'm always thinking about them, even if I'm not at a computer.  It's a habit I picked up as a litigator: You have 1,000 facts in your head, and the most important thing isn't that you know them all- it's that you crystallize them, so that you can present them clearly.  Epiphanies don't occur like a spark; they're actually ideas that have been floating around in your brain for a while.  By the time I sit down to write, my thoughts are well organized and come out cleanly."

as if you are this person

"It's this funny headspace you get in, where you're acting, really.  ....  You literally pretend you are this person, and you go about your life as if you are this person.  And so, when people will ask me, 'Did you like this character?' I don't know.  Because I'm so far inside them, I can't judge them at all.  You're behaving as if you are this person."