Writing Theory

davemarc davemarc at panix.com
Mon Feb 28 16:21:19 CST 2000


No theory here, just actual practice.  "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel
Keyes was a prize-winning short story.  Keyes later morphed the short story
into a novel(la).

I think D.H. Lawrence's versions of Lady Chatterley's Lover would
illustrate something similar.

Also, it's practically a given that writers learn and develop from
experience. What would be really surprising is if Pynchon somehow didn't
try to learn from experience and apply his acquired knowledge in subsequent
works.  He strongly suggests as much in the intro to Slow Learner, where he
describes learning from what he perceives to be his mistakes, and even
berates himself for backsliding in the writing of The Crying of Lot 49.   

It's probably also useful to keep in mind that it's perfectly plausible for
a writer to work on two or more projects at once, keeping journals or
notebooks and building manuscripts that reach critical mass at different
times.

d.




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