Saturday Wisdom, No. 4: Have you ever noticed that debut novelists seem to have the most advice about novel writing? I was like that once. The more books I’ve written, the less advice I have to give. Each time out has been a unique — and usually, uniquely painful — experience for me. After six books, what I know — what I know for certain — is how little I know about writing, about readers, about the vagaries of the publishing process. So, that is to say, you probably ought to ignore my advice and keep your own counsel. And yet, my deeply flawed opinion is that it is beyond difficult to write more than one book at a time, to be the servant of two masters. You at some point have to choose one idea and pour all of yourself into it. You have to be all in. The question of how to choose is an entirely different matter of course.
P.S. I thank you for the love.
