Writing tips from Stuart Woods

That’s what I get for doing this pesky thing called a day job…I miss fun stuff like this interview Stuart Woods — noted crime genre artiste — gave at the Book Standard the other day:

TBS: You’ve written 33 books. How do you manage to be so prolific?

SW: It takes a certain amount of discipline. Once I know the events that are going to take place in a chapter, I can write the chapter quickly—usually in an hour or less.

TBS: What’s a typical workday like for you?

SW: I write generally between 10 and 12 in the morning. And I don’t work everyday.

TBS: Do you ever get your series mixed up?

SW: If I’ve been away from the book for a while, I’ll sometimes have to read a few chapters to get back into it and remind myself where I was. But for the most part, I have a gift for keeping the plot in my mind—I don’t even re-read it when I’m finished with it, I send it straight to my editor.

TBS: You don’t re-read your work all?

SW: I write a chapter at a sitting, then the next day I re-read it and make small corrections and I go on from there.

To be fair, I don’t know of too many people who actually get a full day’s work of writing done in a full day, so to speak, what with the perils of procrastination, strange schedules and the like. And I probably take as much time in a day to write as Woods does (not every day, either) although see the above day job reference as some means of self-rationalization…

(hat tip: Lee Goldberg)