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kennyc · 11-20-2009, 08:04 AM

Hey just an email from GoodReads. Interview with John Irving about Twisted River here:

http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/..._medium=email&
utm_source=Nov_newsletter

I found this particularly interesting:

GR: Is it true that you always begin writing a new book with the last sentence and then build the story toward that fixed point? What is your favorite last sentence that you have written? Any favorites from other writers?

JI: For 12 novels the last sentence has come first, and not even the punctuation has changed. From that last sentence I make my way in reverse through the plot, because there always is a plot—I love plot—to where I think the story should begin. The process from last sentence to first sentence sometimes takes a year or 18 months; in the case of Last Night in Twisted River, only seven months. And once I get that first sentence, I can begin writing the novel. By then I know the whole story and all the important characters; how and where they meet, when their paths cross again.

11-20-2009, 08:04 AM	#3017
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,922 Karma: 119747553 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2 & PW, Onyx Boox Go6	Hey just an email from GoodReads. Interview with John Irving about Twisted River here: http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/..._medium=email& utm_source=Nov_newsletter I found this particularly interesting: GR: Is it true that you always begin writing a new book with the last sentence and then build the story toward that fixed point? What is your favorite last sentence that you have written? Any favorites from other writers? JI: For 12 novels the last sentence has come first, and not even the punctuation has changed. From that last sentence I make my way in reverse through the plot, because there always is a plot—I love plot—to where I think the story should begin. The process from last sentence to first sentence sometimes takes a year or 18 months; in the case of Last Night in Twisted River, only seven months. And once I get that first sentence, I can begin writing the novel. By then I know the whole story and all the important characters; how and where they meet, when their paths cross again. Last edited by kennyc; 11-20-2009 at 08:08 AM.