Making
Stories
Kate Grenville
in
collaboration with
Sue Woolfe
1993
Australian
writer Sue Woolfe is the author of (among other works) the novels Leaning
Towards Infinity and The Secret Cure.
HOW DO NOVELS get written? Where do
writers get their initial ideas? Are novels the result of inspiration or
sheer hard work? Do writers plan their books, or are they "taken
over" by them? Are they sustained by faith in themselves or
undermined by doubts?
Once a book is finished, it's hard to
imagine it could ever have been any other way, but many books go through
radical changes. Making Stories traces the development of ten
novels, comparing early drafts with the finished version, and the writers
are interviewed about the process. They speak frankly about the sometimes
long, difficult and surprising journeys they took in the writing.
Making Stories looks at the work of Jessica Anderson, The
Commandant; Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda; Helen Garner, The
Children's Bach; Kate Grenville, Lilian's Story; David Ireland,
A Woman of the Future; Elizabeth Jolley, Mr Scobie's Riddle;
Thomas Keneally, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith; Finola Moorhead, Remember
the Tarantella; Patrick White, Memoirs of Many in One; and Sue
Woolfe, Painted Woman,
Each chapter looks at the work of one writer and has three parts: an
extract from early drafts of a novel, an extract from the published
version of the same novel, showing what changes were made, and an
interview with the writer.
On this Internet site you can read a version of the
chapter about Lilian's Story (abbreviated for its appearance on
this Internet site), which consists of Kate Grenville's interview with Sue
Woolfe and some extracts from drafts of Lilian's Story. It's in the
"Interviews" page.