Aspiring Novelist? Read This

“I’ve always wanted to write” is something novelist Allegra Goodman hears a lot, so she lays out some advice in the Boston Globe for the doctors, venture capitalists, and lactation consultants with stories to tell:

• “To begin, don’t write about yourself.” Writing is about imagining and understanding other people’s lives. Observe people and “replay their conversation in your mind.”

• Write in a peaceful space. The definition is relative: “Peace is not the same as quiet. Peace means you avoid checking your e-mail every 10 seconds.”
• “Read widely, and dissect books in your mind.” Make sure to read nonfiction, to see how those writers tell a story, and poetry “to go where words are worshipped.”

(More writer stories.)