“At the risk, then, of being shunned by some of my gloomier peers, I venture to tell you that writers work like demons, suffer greatly, and are also happy, in unmistakable ways, some of the time. If we had no knowledge of happiness, our novels wouldn't sufficiently resemble real life. Some of us are even made a little bit happy, on occasion, by the writing process itself. I mean, really, if there wasn't some sort of enjoyment to be derived, would any of us keep doing it?” IfsWayWritingMeanLittlesMadeRealSufferingBitsProcessNovelRiskLittle BitReal LifeOccasionsEnjoymentDemonPeersVentureWriting Process Author:Michael Cunningham
“A lyrical, brave and complex novel that takes enormous risks and pulls them all off.” NovelRiskBraveComplexesEnormousLyrical Author:Peter Straub
“I was not exploiting any real individual's story in writing ROOM, of course I was aware that my novel, by commenting on such situations, would run the risk of falling into those traps of voyeurism, sensationalism and sentimentality.” WritingRealStoriesRunningFallCoursesIndividualRoomsSituationNovelRiskTrapsSentimentalitySensationalism Author:Emma Donoghue
“I knew it was a risk but what I was after was a novel that is about the feeling that comes with a coincidence in real life - that you feel as if something divine has intervened and has arrived with a message.” IfsFeelsRealFeelingsNovelRiskDivineMessagesReal LifeCoincidence Author:Alexander Chee
“The writer has to take risks and go somewhere full of mystery and possibility for the novel to deepen over the years it takes to write it.” WritingYearsNovelRiskMysteryPossibility Author:Dana Spiotta