It's 'the things that arise spontaneously'

 

“I envy those writers who outline their novels, who know where they’re going, but I find writing is a process of discovery.” – Jay McInerney

 

Born in Hartford, CT on this date in 1955, John Barrett “Jay” McInerney is author of 7 novels, led by the award-winning Bright Lights, Big City (also made into a successful movie).  He also is the author of 3 nonfiction books and 2 collections of short stories.  The first of those, How It Ended: New and Collected Stories, has earned accolades as one of the best books of short stories by an American writer in the past 20 years.  

 

Friends with a number of other famous writers, he holds the interesting distinction of having one of his characters – Alison Poole – taken from his novel Story of My Life and used as a regular character in the writings of Bret Easton Ellis, including in Easton’s award-winning book and movie American Psycho, of which McInerney said he is a big fan. 

 

As for his own writings,  McInerney noted: “The most interesting things that happen in my books are usually the things that arise spontaneously; the things that surprise me.”