Thursday, May 29, 2008


Novelist johnny Ray's thoughts. The world of writing novels is changing and perhaps I am not the best one to address this, but it appears that to be the break out type novel, the author must not only be a great writer, but must have a commanding knowledge of the subject. In other words his research must be outstanding. I can see the time when a writer must have a full time assistant just to do, or verify the research. I saw an article somewhere recently where author Tom Wolfe made a comment that he thought the way to save or improve the world of the fiction writer is to make him or her more of a journalist. The comment has me thinking and I'm starting to understand his meaning. It is the research into the real world that is needed to make the story interesting. People want to learn something new , to be taught, to be led, but without being bored or beat over the head with facts they have to memorize.
It would be interesting to see how much time and work other authors put into research. I would like to know their thoughts as well. Let me know your thoughts. if you are a reader, I especially want to know your thoughts on the reality inside the fiction.

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