I. What is the genesis of a story with you--does it grow from an
incident, a character, a trait of character, a situation, setting, a
title, or what? That is, what do you mean by an idea for a story?
II. Do you map it out in advance, or do you start with, say, a character
or situation, and let the story tell itself as you write? Do you write
it in pieces to be joined together, or straightaway as a whole? Is the
ending clearly in mind when you begin? To what extent do you revise?
III. When you read a story to what extent does your imagination
reproduce the story-world of the author--do you actually see in your
imagination all the characters, action and setting just as if you were
looking at an actual scene? Do you actually hear all sounds described,
mentioned and inferred, just as if they were real sounds? Do you taste
the flavors in a story, so really that your mouth literally waters to a
pleasant one? How real does your imagination make the smells in a story
you read? Does your imagination reproduce the sense of touch--of rough
or smooth contact, hard or gentle impact or pressure, etc.? Does your
imagination make you feel actual physical pain corresponding, though in
a slighter degree, to pain presented in a story? Of course you get an
intelligent idea from any such mention, but in which of the above cases
does your imagination produce the same results on your senses as do the
actual stimuli themselves?
If you can really "see things with your eyes shut," what limitations?
Are the pictures you see colored or more in black and white? Are details
distinct or blurred?
If you studied geometry, did it give you more trouble than other
mathematics?
Is your response limited to the exact degree to which the author
describes and makes vivid, or will the mere concept set you to
reproducing just as vividly?
Do you have stock pictures for, say, a village church or a cowboy, or
does each case produce its individual vision?
Is there any difference in behavior of your imagination when you are
reading stories and when writing them?
Have you ever considered these matters as "tools of your trade"? If so,
to what extent and how do you use them?
IV. When you write do you center your mind on the story itself or do you
constantly have your readers in mind? In revising?
V. Have you had a class-room or correspondence course on writing
fiction? Books on it? To what extent did this help in the elementary
stages? Beyond the elementary stages?
VI. How much of your craft have you learned from reading current
authors? The classics?