Want to Write That Novel?

There is an interesting article in the new issue of Poets and Writer's Magazine The article titled, Writing Your First Novel: In the Beginning Were the Words by John Dufresne. Dufresne discusses interesting ways you can start writing that first novel. In the article he details his own journey writing his novel Louisiana Power and Lights. He also gives a list of nine ways to start writing. These germs as Henry James called them can be as small as a line, a list, or a title just to name a few.

Here are just a few excerpts from the article...

William Faulkner said, "With me, a story usually begins with a single idea or memory or mental picture. The writing of the story is simply a matter of working up to that moment, to explain why it happened or what caused it to follow,"


E. L. Doctorow said this about the genesis of Ragtime: "I was so desperate to write something, I was facing the wall of my study in my house in New Rochelle and so I started to write about the wall."

This article has ideas and inspiration to help you start your novel. If you want to write that novel you should read this and then start writing. Unfortunately, this article can not be read via the web. You will need to buy it to read it .