On Writing Fiction

I was just rereading an old interview with Beverly Cleary, author of the Ramona books and a whole bookshelf of others. Her answer to one question about how she approaches writing caught my attention.

I don’t believe that outlining works for fiction because if you have it all worked out, it becomes boring. So I just write. I really enjoy revising more than writing. I love to cross things out and cut a page down to one paragraph ... I know I wouldn’t want to see anything published as I wrote it initially because it changes so much in the writing. I revise until a little light bulb clicks off and I know it’s done. I just know when it feels right. My first editor told me I was an intuitive writer. I hadn’t really thought about myself that way, but I guess she was right.

Read the whole interview here.