Novel-writing is a bit like deception. You lie as little as you possibly can. That's the way I do it, anyway.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The idea that you're not a writer until you're published is a lie.
Writing novels preserves you in a state of innocence - a lot passes you by - simply because your attention is otherwise diverted.
I've always seen writing as a way of telling the truth. For me, writing is about truth. I have always tried to be faithful to my own experience.
Well I'm not a novelist. I've only written one book and that is a memoir.
Writing stories is the habit of lying put to good use.
I think novels are profoundly autobiographical. If writers deny that, they are lying. Or if it's really true, then I think it's a mistake.
As a writer of fiction, lying is the central thing to all books.
All writing is the same: It's just making up lies until it starts to sound like the truth. That's what I do.
Writing a novel is easier than writing a memoir; you are not constrained by the truth.
I was so in love with books from as early as I remember that it seemed a natural step to want to create them. And so I just wanted to be a writer from a very young age. And I think that the lies were just a natural side effect of me wanting to tell stories and write them down.