As you know from my previous gushing post about Joan Clark’s new book An Audience of Chairs, I had a chance to meet her last week and was absolutely thrilled. She’s a lovely, intelligent and kind woman who said in response to my question, “How long did it take you to write the book,” the following:
“Four years. I actually started thirty years ago, but couldn’t finish. It just wasn’t the right time. And then I started again twelve years ago and found the same thing.”
All in all, she’s been thinking about those characters, that story, and that tale for thirty years. Thirty years of having the characters talk back in her head, bash around with real life, and wait to really settle. It’s a wonderfully inspiring thought that time only makes the idea grow stronger, and will brings it forth, but its really the characters themselves that take time coming to life.