“To get ready to write any novel does take a lot of preparation. I do a lot of research. I do a lot of coexisting with the ideas about what the novel’s going to be. I take a lot of notes beforehand. I write in freeform on my computer; I just create different documents discussing all aspect of the novel. But then when I actually plunge into the novel, and live in the novel’s world, I have a very hard time doing anything but writing. I write from the first page to the end, going back and forth, back and forth revising the whole time, but I’m living in that novel in a very painful and joyful way. I frequently sit that the computer writing for hours everyday talking out loud while I’m writing — actually reading the words, or speaking the words, especially if they’re dialogue. To prepare for that, you prepare your own courage to take that kind of plunge; to loose yourself totally; to take yourself that far away from the delicious idleness that the rest of life seems to be.”

– Anne Rice [7/10/16 X]