Good writers make writing look easy - but is it? Anyone learning to write will be encouraged by this book - it shows that even our greatest novelists come to their books by a long and uncertain process. The book shows ten acclaimed Australian authors at work, painstakingly constructing their books from rough notes, dimly-glimpsed ideas, and trial and error.
By referring to extracts from drafts and published versions of their novels, each author candidly discusses how she or he works, taking the reader step-by-step through the creative process to share the invisible hours of toil that shape a work of fiction. All faced problems and doubts, and solved them in sometimes startling ways.
Kate Grenville and Sue Woolfe have produced an important book which will reward and entertain everyone interested in Australian fiction, or in the writing process itself. Featured with Kate Grenville and Sue Woolfe are Helen Garner, Jessica Anderson, Peter Carey, David Ireland, Elizabeth Jolley, Finola Moorhead, Patrick White, and Thomas Keneally.