The Compromise: An American Novel
Author's log of writing The Compromise
Image: “Paddle-steamer in a Storm” c. 1840 J.M.W. Turner. [PD] via Wikimedia commons The first phase of writing a novel is like preparing to set sail on a voyage around the world and asking what to bring, what to discard, and what can be found along the way. Will it be dangerous, exciting and life-changing,…
Something comes first in a coming-of-age novel. Like a living thing, it is only small and simple for a moment. It expands and grows more complex with each word. Writing has been an exquisite task, such that I might wish drafting to never end. Revising the opening yet again, has reinforced the mind’s nonlinear capacities….