Writers and Editors

In How to Write a Great Novel, WSJ reporter Alexandra Alter interviews 11 top authors on their methods for getting the story on the page. Junot Díaz writes in the bathroom, Nicholson Baker dresses in character, Amitav Ghosh uses black ink Pelikan pens, one novelists writes in 14-point Courier font and another in eight-point Times New Roman, some write first drafts by hand, one dictates (lying in bed), using voice-recognition software. Fascinating stuff. Bottom line: There is no one single formula for keeping the writing process going.