on-writing

Mortmain is an old French word that should be tattooed on the inside of any historical novelist's skull. This wonderful and terrible word means __ead hand._ Its definition is: __he influence of the past regarded as controlling the present._ (It is also used as a legal term with the same basic meaning.

A novel, or so-called __iction,_ if deeply researched and conscientiously written, might well contain as much truth as a high-school history textbook approved by a state board of education. But having been designated __istorical fiction_ by its publisher, it is presumed to be less reliably true than that textbook. If fiction were defined as __he opposite of truth,_ then much of the content of many approved historical textbooks could be called __istorical fiction.__ut fiction is not the opposite of truth. Fiction means __reated by imagination._ And there is plenty of evidence everywhere in literature and art that imagination can get as close to truth as studious fact-finding can.

Most historical accounts were written by fallible scholars, using incomplete or biased resource materials; written through the scholars' own conscious or unconscious predilections; published by textbook or printing companies that have a stake in maintaining a certain set of beliefs; subtly influenced by entities of government and society _ national administrations, state education departments, local school boards, etcetera _ that also wish to maintain certain sets of beliefs. To be blunt about it, much of the history of many countries and states is based on delusion, propaganda, misinformation, and omission.

...but every person who does serious time with a keyboard is attempting to translate his version of the world into words so that he might be understood.

I would write:"The soft melting hunk of butter trickled in gold down the stringy grooves of the split yam."Or:"The child's clumsy fingers fumbled in sleep, feeling vainly for the wish of its dream.""The old man huddled in the dark doorway, his bony face lit by the burning yellow in the windows of distant skycrapers."My purpose was to capture a physical state or movement that carried a strong subjective impression, an accomplishment which seemed supremely worth struggling for. If I could fasten the mind of the reader upon words so firmly that he would forget words and be conscious only of his response, I felt that I would be in sight of knowing how to write narrative.

Another drink, another sentence, and the writing continues on. . . .

I turn sentences around. That__ my life. I write a sentence and then I turn it around. Then I look at it and I turn it around again. Then I have lunch. Then I come back in and write another sentence. Then I have tea and turn the new sentence around. Then I read the two sentences over and turn them both around. Then I lie down on my sofa and think. Then I get up and throw them out and start from the beginning. And if I knock off from this routine for as long as a day, I__ frantic with boredom . . .

Fame is a spiritual drug. It is often a by-product of our artistic work, but like nuclear waste, it can be a very dangerous by-product.

Words writers choose are like a glimmering reflection into our souls.

How would you start to write a poem? How would you put together a series of words for its first line__ow would you know which words to choose? When you read a poem, every word seemed so perfect that it had to have been predestined__ell, a good poem.

Read a lot, write a lot is the great commandment.

MYTH: Beautiful Writing Trumps AllREALITY: Storytelling Trumps Beautiful Writing, Every Time

The most important things to remember about back story are that (a) everyone has a history and (b) most of it isn__ very interesting.

I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit. I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.

Stories. Character. Dialouge. Entire worlds created on the page. Worlds that could sweep you away or frighten you, make you laugh or cry. Worlds that allowed you to escape to another country or time. Worlds built piece by piece of ink and punctuation.

A slavish concern for the composition of words is the sign of a bankrupt intellect. Be gone, odious wasp! You smell of decayed syllables.

When someone is mean to me, I just make them a victim in my next book.

Whenever I'm asked what advice I have for young writers, I always say that the first thing is to read, and to read a lot. The second thing is to write. And the third thing, which I think is absolutely vital, is to tell stories and listen closely to the stories you're being told.