Beauty, You Can Find It Here If

I've Never Thought There Was Anything I Could Hope To Get By Praying For It.

The Lessons Learned In Journalism Also Apply. Writing For Npr Has Taught Me To Cut A Piece In Half And Then In Half Again - Without Losing The Essence. Apply That To The Swollen Prose Of A Bulky Novel And You Might Reveal A Beautiful Work.

First, You Hand Over Some Basics-overwhelming Joy, Existential Angst, A Giving-in To Desire, Etc. And Then You Promise To Withstand Talking Idly About The Weather, To Encourage Cliché, To Uphold The Virtues Of Average. You Hand Over The Need To Be Understood And, In Return, You Get A Bar Of Normal Soap. And You Can Wash In It And Be Daily Reborn To A Safe World Of Modest, Enduring Love Or, At Least, Mild, Well-mannered Bonding.

I Try Not To Divide Plot And Character. I Get To Know A Character By What They Want And Fear And How Those Internal Forces Play Out In Their Lives.

Memories Are Like Water.