Writers on how they write: Russell Banks

The Wall Street Journal had a great article a few weeks back: "How to Write a Great Novel", reflections by novelists on how they approach writing. Since the article is subscription only, I'm featuring one writer per day here, highlighting their process with a key excerpt from the article.

Today's writer is Russell Banks whose novels include "Continental Drift" and "The Sweet Hereafter."

Russell Banks, a novelist who lives in upstate New York, writes nonfiction essays and reviews on his computer, but "gets blocked" if he tries to write fiction that way. He scribbles out his first drafts in longhand, working from 8 in the morning until 1:30 in the afternoon in a small writing studio. His studio, a converted sugar shack that was once used for boiling maple syrup, sits in a wooded area about 1,000 yards from his house.

His novels sometimes start out as a single sentence or phrase. As the story unfolds, he types up a rough outline that encompasses the whole plot, and a shorter, more detailed outline that maps out what's going to happen in the next 10 or 20 pages. "It keeps me from falling off a cliff," says Mr. Banks, whose books include "Affliction" and "The Sweet Hereafter," both novels.

That's interesting: Two outlines, one a rough one for the whole plot, then other shorter, more detailed ones for the next "10 or 20 pages."