During an interlude in the Massachusetts Democratic Convention which I attended as a delegate today, I was asked a strange question by a woman who happens to have read one of my books recently and like many fans, is curious about when and how I write. Her question was a two-parter, the first part being self-explanatory and the second, welll it went like this: When you start to write a novel, do you know how it’s going to end? I mean, have you written it in your head and all you have to do is put the words down?
My answer: With every book I have ever written, I have always known every word that I used in the book. I just didn’t know what order I was going to put them in.
Strangely, she nodded sagely. Anyway, it gave the following idea:
Shakespeare and I used words the same,
What changed was the order they came.
Citizen Poet 