I’m very much like Hans, yes! I think part of the reason is just because I learned from Hans, he has been a big mentor and a great friend for me, and I remember when he told me this, it actually made me feel comfortable in my process! We’re the same way, and so that actually made me relax a bit. Once I realized that, it helped me to see that the steps I need to take, you know, sitting down, thinking about what were my initial ideas? What instrumentation do I need? You just place yourself into the project and the ideas will hopefully come. Sometimes it comes easier than other times, sometimes it’s tough especially when a deadline is looming… But that’s the nature of the game. I just try to do the best I can do in the moment.
Originally asked
The Paris Review, to novelists and poets, The Art of Fiction
A recurrent craft question in The Paris Review's Art of Fiction interviews; wording varies between character, theme, first sentence, image, and idea.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
T. Cole Rachel, The Creative Independent interview, 13 March 2017 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 77 →I wrote it because it was so. Because it was the force of my experience that pushed the book out of me, like a baby is pushed out of its mother. The mother doesn’t say, “I’ll push this one out for my friends.” You push the book out because you’ve got to – as you push out the baby.
No doubt. I’ve written at times about the spooky element in writing. You go in each morning, and there’s a blank page. Maybe it takes five minutes, maybe it takes an hour. Sooner or later you start writing, and then the words begin to flow. Where does that come from? You can’t pinpoint it. You always wonder, “Will it all stop tomorrow?” In that sense it’s spooky. In other words, you’re relying on a phenomenon that’s not necessarily dependable. That’s a particular kind of fear but there are other fears in writing of an altogether different sort.
I have talkative friends. The core of my friendships are curious people. We talk about life. "What do you think of this? Why do people do that? What do you think is the underlying motivation behind the reason that people do this thing?" Just constantly analyzing life.
More on craft & work
- What is the worst job you have done? 235 answers
- What do you consider your greatest achievement? 202 answers
- What do you do when you feel creatively blocked or stuck? 76 answers
- How do you know when a piece of work is finished? 73 answers
- How much rewriting or revision do you do? 55 answers
- What is the part of your job that people would be surprised is most of your job? 52 answers
Also answered this
Ernest Greene, Thomas Mars, Jorge Drexler, Buck Meek, Ramin Djawadi, Black Belt Eagle Scout
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All craft & work questions
- The The Art of Fiction questionnaire — 3 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject