From ragtag pieces to the finished quilt

“I tend to start with a kernel, a vague concept, and just begin to write things down - notes about a character, lines of dialogue, descriptive passages about a place. One idea fires another. I do that for about a year. By then there's a story, and I'll go on to a complete first draft that sews many of those ragtag pieces together.” – Scott Turow

I am a big fan of this style myself, calling it the “puzzle equation.”  You have the bits and pieces, now put them together and see how the puzzle works out.

Turow, born on this date in 1949, has been called America’s bard for the litigious age, moving from a burgeoning law career to successful author of both legal thrillers and nonfiction that benefits those in need of justice.  Besides his many writing awards and bestselling books he also is recipient of the 

                                                                                     

Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights Book Award given annually to a novelist who "most faithfully and forcefully reflects Robert Kennedy's purposes - his concern for the poor and the powerless, his struggle for honest and even-handed justice.” 

A Chicago native where he also practiced law, Turow has written nine fiction and two nonfiction books, which have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 30 million copies^.   His first novel, Presumed Innocent, also was one of the best movies about the legal process.

  

Turow has established himself as a champion of libraries and fair access to the written word for readers everywhere.    “I count myself as one of millions of Americans whose life simply would not be the same without the libraries that supported my learning,” Turow said.

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