One of the humbling things about having written more than one novel is the sense that every time you begin, that new empty page does not know who you are.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
To me, novels are a trip of discovery, and you discover things that you don't know and you assume that many of your readers don't know, and you try to bring them to life on the page.
I am a big believer in the fact that all authors really write only one book.
Each book tends to have its own identity rather than the author's. It speaks from itself rather than you. Each book is unlike the others because you are not bringing the same voice to every book. I think that keeps you alive as a writer.
Some readers sort of suspect that you have another book that you didn't publish that has even more information in it. I think that readers sort of want to be taught something. They have this idea that there's a takeaway from a novel rather than just the being there, which I think is the great, great pleasure of reading.
Every reader re-creates a novel - in their own imagination, anyway. It's only entirely the writer's when nobody else has read it.
All writing is an act of self-exploration. Even a grocery list says something about you; how much more does a novel say?
I've always thought a novelist only has one character, and that is himself or herself. In my case, me.
I don't write the same book twice.
I like to believe, as a writer, that anybody who isn't a reader yet has just not found the right book.
Well I'm not a novelist. I've only written one book and that is a memoir.