Part of The Writer's Life Series
JH: Writing a novel is a commitment, and when that "relationship" ends, it can be traumatic. Bonnie Randall shares tips and thoughts on dealing with novel grief.
Truman Capote said “Finishing a book is just like you took your child out into the back yard and shot it.” Writing a novel is a full-time immersion into an alternate reality within which we live for extensive stretches of time—creating characters who, by our own intense efforts, are as three-dimensional as any flesh and blood person we’ve ever encountered, and settings as vivid as any locale we’ve ever been to.
Naturally, then, we form relationships with the acutely real people and places we create.
