Thursday, April 29, 2010

Learning from the Masters

I love hearing authors talk about their work. Writers seem rarely to come out of the shadows of their writing rooms to offer public interviews, but when they do, the results are fascinating. I showed my students this John Grisham interview a couple of days ago. It's a great look inside his writing process, his writer's journey, and the publishing world.

I first read John Grisham's books way back with The Firm (my personal favorite) in the late 80's. If you're looking for a page-turner, look no further than Grisham. He's an absolute Master at it. And because he was once a lawyer, he knows what he's talking about, with these legal thrillers of his.

In the above interview, I like Grisham's honesty. He makes no apologies for not being a favorite of the critics, and for attending to plot over character development. He's spot-on, regarding things like rejections and pacing and outlining. It's nice to hear the tricks of the trade verified by one who's been so successful. Not that I have any outlandish notions of grandeur - but it's nice to think that, once upon a time, the Grishams of this world were sitting at a desk, writing, not knowing if their work would ever see the light of day...

1 comment:

  1. Learning from established authors is a great way to perfect the craft of writing. I read The Firm also...and loved it. One of these days I'd like to read ALL of his novels.

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