'A process of discovering'

 

“Writing is a process of discovering. I could never outline a narrative; that just sounds boring. There's no joy of discovery in what you're doing if that's your strategy.” –  Bob Shacochis
 

Born in Pittston, PA on this date in 1951, Shacochis is a novelist, short story writer, literary journalist and longtime creative writing professor at Florida State University. His most recent book is Kingdoms in the Air, a collection of his travel and adventure essays. 

 

Educated at the University of Missouri and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Shacochis jumped right into the creative writing world with a 1985 National Book Award-winning short story collection Easy in the Islands.   His novel Swimming in the Volcano also was a finalist for a National Book Award, and another, The Woman Who Lost Her Soul, won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for fiction. 

 

“I'm asked all the time, 'Doesn't it feel great to finish the novel?',” he said.  “And the answer to that is, 'No.' It's sort of a loss to stop a 10-year project, which is an imaginary project in the sense that it's a work of my imagination.”