"When I want to be a director, I write a novel." (John Irving on the craft of fiction)

The best 73 seconds of craft advice you're ever going to get.

Comments

Jenny Milchman said…
In high school at least I was not a big fan of his books (then again, high school is sort of known for taking cupcakes and making them taste like zweiback toast ;) but this clip makes me want to revisit them. If I could accomplish that with a novel...wow. Something else I've read that speaks to this, albeit pared down, is the notion that the first page sells the book you're reading, the last page sells the next.