And This is How I Do It

John Irving (who does not appear to have a website--I respect that)appeared at an event of some kind in Austin, Texas yesterday. He's going to be giving a talk of which he says, "The talk will be about the writing process, about my process in particular. It's how I construct a chapter, how I construct a book. I will read the first chapter..."

If I were to give a talk about my writing process, it would go something like this: "Well, I write a couple of sentences, then I check my e-mail, go to Readerville, and see what's happening at Salon. Then I write a few sentences, check my e-mail, go to Readerville and play some solitaire. Then I write a few sentences, check my e-mail, go to Readerville, and check to see if Salon has added any new AP stories. At some point I get something to eat. I might put in a load of wash. Then I write a few sentences, check my e-mail, go to Readerville, see if anything new has happened at Salon, and play some more solitaire.

I wonder how much people would pay me to give a talk like that? I wonder if people would pay me to give a talk like that?

Nonetheless, I did finish another draft of a new book last week. And I am closing in on an ending to my AAUW talk. Really.

Why, Gail, you might ask, are you talking about John Irving here when this is a kidlit blog and he is not a kidlit kind of guy? Well, the extremely photogenic (IMHO) Mr. Irving has written a children's book.

Yeah, I know. Who hasn't?

Thanks to h20boro lib blog for the Irving/Austin link.