'The wish to create order out of disorder'

 

“I don't think writers choose the genre, the genre chooses us. I wrote out of the wish to create order out of disorder, the liking of a pattern.” – P.D. James

 

James, author of more than two dozen books, was born in England in 1920.  The multiple award-winning writer said once she "knew" her genre, setting each story was not a problem because settings can be anywhere.  She said that since all fiction is largely autobiographical, the writer just has to draw upon settings from his or her own life.  "Write what you know," is an old writing guideline and it definitely holds true for the setting.

 

And while "setting" the book usually doesn’t happen overnight and often can be a messy process, it’s a key part of the creative process that has led to everything from our neighbor’s “memoirs” to Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises.

 

“Don't just plan to write -- write," James said.   "It is only by writing, not dreaming about it, that we develop our own style.”