This invaluable collection of essays by published novelists focuses on the journey of writing a first novel. Writers generously offer their insight and advice on the joys and challenges that new authors of fiction will inevitably encounter along the way. A literary agent and a publisher add their own professional perspectives.
In this inspiring collection of essays, a range of award-winning, established and newly published writers offer highly personal accounts of their creative processes. Authors reveal the anxieties, considerations and discoveries that shaped their own first novels, arming new writers with practical advice, focus and inspiration. The book's final section presents the perspectives of an agent, a publisher and an author on the business of publishing a first novel.
Writing a First Novel offers an illuminating read for both aspiring and seasoned writers. It contains contributions by:
- Hanif Kureishi
- Valerie Martin
- Johanna Skibsrud
- David Vann
- Maile Chapman
- Edward Hogan
- Kishwar Desai
- Wena Poon
- Alison MacLeod
- Andrew Cowan
- Jane Rusbridge
- Isabel Ashdown
- Helon Habila
- David Swann
- Soumya Bhattacharya
- Jane Feaver
- Hannah Westland
- Helen Garnons-Williams
- Lionel Shriver
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Acknowledgements.- List of Contributors.- Introduction; Karen Stevens.- PART I: INSPIRATION AND THE NOVEL.- Something Given: Reflections on Writing; Hanif Kureishi.- Look Back in Angst; Valerie Martin.- Illuminating the Shadows: the Space Between Fact and Fiction; Johanna Skibsrud.- Genesis; David Vann.- PART II: RESEARCH AND THE NOVEL.- Treasure, Trash, and Planned Obsolescence; Maile Chapman
Writing Home; Edward Hogan.- Walking the Tightrope; Kishwar DesaiThe Reluctant Aficionado; Wena Poon.- PART III: VOICE AND THE .- NOVEL.- Hearing Voices; Alison MacLeod.- 'This Won't Do': Pig and the Temptation of Silence; Andrew Cowan.- Knots and Narrative; Jane Rusbridge.- 'Voice' and the Inescapable Complexity of Experience; Isabel Ashdown.- PART IV: FORM AND THE NOVEL.- Giving Shape to One's Universe; Helon Habila.- Another Fine Mess; David Swann.- Man of Letters; Soumya Bhattacharya.- Belief; Jane Feaver.- PART V: THE BUSINESS OF PUBLISHING.- An Agent's Perspective; Hannah Westland.- The Role of the Editor; Helen Garnons-Williams.- Baby, You've Got it; Lionel Shriver.- Index.
