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I write until the first draft is finished, and then I feel that I can get out. But, during the time of the writing of the first draft, I don't go out. I'm just locked away, writing. It's a time of meditation, of going into the story.

Sometimes, as I feel a door or an exit point in my work is closing, I'll try to create an opening so as not to stifle the creative process, which I see as a process that's never-ending.

I just want to keep laying down really great, strong characters, and the more I go unrecognized, the better job I feel I'm doing.

Although when I start a novel I know how it will begin and end, I like to let the people within the story take me on a journey between those points without having a fixed plan.

Losing yourself in the character opens you up in a way that no amount of precise preparation can.

What I do is put my characters into situations that are so precarious there is no way to get out. And then I figure how to get them out.

I work very deliberately, with a plan. But sometimes I come to a point that I planned as the end and it needs softening. Ending a novel is almost like putting a child to sleep - it can't be done abruptly.

I've gotten pretty good at leaving characters on the set. I go home and try to relax and regroup and be ready for the next day.