Novel Ideas: Contemporary Authors [Paperback]

Margaret Love Denman (Author), Barbara Shoup (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2001

"Novel Ideas: Contemporary Writers Share the Creative Process" is a thought-provoking guide for aspiring novelists that uses the experiences of popular contemporary authors to illustrate the daily challenges of the creative process. Twenty-three in-depth interviews show first-hand how the process works-- and how it can take over an author's life. Interviews include A. Manette Ansay, Michael Chabon, Wally Lamb, Valerie Martin and Sena Jeter Naslund. Reading these interviews, the would-be novelist feels as if he or she is having a conversation with a mentor. The book also combines chapters on the creative process, novel structure, discipline, and drafting.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

After introductory chapters on the elements of fiction, the process of revision, and endurance writing come interviews with 23 contemporary novelists. These interviews, some of which originally appeared in a journal called Other Voices, address the differences between writing short stories and novels, the various ways in which a novel evolves, the internal and external obstacles for the novelist, and often--as in Valerie Martin on Mary Reilly and Sena Jeter Naslund on Ahab's Wife--the writing of a specific fictional work.

Throughout the book are discussions about how novels are born ("Somebody starts talking in my head," says Dorothy Allison) and how the real world feeds the fictional one. For many authors, the relationship between what happens in life and what happens on the page is a spiritual one. "I have a somewhat mystical belief that if you have a novel in mind," says Lee Smith, "everything you see and read and hear somehow contributes to it, if you're paying attention." "I've got my radar up," says Wally Lamb, "and I'm walking around in life looking for stuff that resonates, vibrates." Others are more predatory: "You go around like a vulture," says Patricia Henley, "stealing these things."

Though many of the authors interviewed here claim not to know at first whether they are embarking on a novel or a short story, Michael Chabon sees a strong distinction. "A short story is a commando operation." he says. "You have to get in quickly, set your charges, and get out, leaving the reader to be caught up in the blast." Not so the novel, which he likens to a full-out war, "always begun in the highest enthusiasm, with full confidence of right, and of the certainty of it all being over by Christmas. Two years later you're in the trenches and the mud, with defeat a real possibility, doubting everything, in particular the wisdom of the commanding general." --Jane Steinberg

From Library Journal

Shoup (Faithful Women) and Denman, the program director of creative writing at the University of New Hampshire, interviewed 23 well-known contemporary authors about the process of crafting fiction to produce this inspirational guide. A brief introductory section takes the reader through the rudiments of writing, most specifically plot and character development and the importance of revision. This information, especially on the rudiments of writing, has been done better elsewhere (Strunk and White's Elements of Style comes to mind). The interviews, however, are well-crafted pieces that show how well Shoup and Denman did their homework. Speaking with Tony Hillerman, Alice McDermott, Jane Smiley, Michael Chabon, and others, the authors draw out very personal responses not only about specific approaches to the creative process but also about how characters evolve and how novels come together. The authors share the motivation, exhilaration, fear, and frustration that transform ideas into words and words into stories. While not a high-priority purchase, this would be a good addition to writing workshop reading lists. Readers of popular fiction might also enjoy this work, as major writers offer insights into their modus operandi. Denise Sticha, Murrysville Community Lib., PA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Alpha; 1st edition (March 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028640683
• ISBN-13: 978-0028640686
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,795,619 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars About Writing Literary Fiction, August 30, 2004

By 

Gregory Bascom (San Jose Costa Rica) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Novel Ideas: Contemporary Authors (Paperback)

In NOVEL IDEAS, twenty-three literary novelists interviewed by the authors share their writing experiences. They reveal how their novels developed or "gathered," the relative importance of characters versus plot, whether or not they knew the ending before they wrote it, and the extent to which they used an outline or simply started writing without knowing what their characters were going to do.

There is good stuff here for anyone curious about the literary fiction writing process, but don't expect to discover a magic formula. There were only two consistencies amongst the 23 authors. First, that characters drive fiction and the invention of characters precedes the development of plot. Second, although nearly every one of the authors interviewed had an MFA (or PhD) in writing, none thought that the MFA itself helped them become writers. These authors became successful writers by writing. The value of the MFA, for them, was the contiguous time dedicated to writing and the association with other writers.

After nearly five years, I recently finished my first novel. I cannot tell you that my struggle would have been easier had I read NOVEL IDEAS first, but I certainly enjoyed reading it afterwards. Read this book if you are interested in the truth about the process of writing literary fiction, which is evidently quite different from writing genre fiction.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must-have for any writer, April 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Novel Ideas: Contemporary Authors (Paperback)

What a breath of fresh air in a market that is flooded with books that offer formulas for writing and getting published! Instead, Novel Ideas offers the reader real life experiences of those who have gone before them and lived to tell. Those of us struggling with the writing life will find solace in the words of those interviewed and guidance in the chapter text itself. It was like having the modern version of the Algonquin roundtable at my fingertips!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable, June 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Novel Ideas: Contemporary Authors (Paperback)

There are many works that seek to compile interviews with writers, but none I have found approach them from this unique angle. Rather than have the authors muse over a variety of topics and soliciting the same stock responses, Margaret-Love Denman and Barbara Shoup--like all good writers--have a singular, distinct focus: inquiring into the artistic process of some of America's finest artists. The answers they receive are therefore both focused, informative, and encouraging to anyone who is curious about the many things that go into the making of art, and the variety of ways that writers achieve what they set out to do.