It would be hard to crank out a modern novel in 72 hours.
Supposedly, that's what Hammett did with Falcon, but in it's
original format I don't think Falcon exceeded 200 pages. Even
Hard Case would be hard pressed to accept a novel that short,
today. You could certainly flush out a first draft with a
reasonable ending in that time, though. I find that the real
work of writing a novel begins after the novel is essentially
written. Rephrase where possible; rewrite where necessary.
But rephrasing and rewriting are completely different
efforts. When I rewrite, I come at a chapter from a
completely new and more experienced position. I know what has
to happen in the chapter, so I rewrite it without reference
to the older version. Supposedly, Martin Cruz Smith was
really working at a high level when he completed the ending
to Gorky Park. He knew his energy was at fever pitch, so he
rewote the beginning in the same session, and the rest is
history.
Patrick King
--- Jack Bludis <
buildsnburns@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Patrick is right on except for the rye. It's how
I
> wrote my
> first novels that sold. I didn't rent a room
either,
> I just
> made everybody leave me alone. Took about a
week
> rather
> than 72 hours.
>
> Jack
>
> http://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JackBludis
> http://jackbludis.com/
> Recent Story at http://backalleywebzine.com/
>
>
>
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 11 Oct 2007 EDT