 |
 |
INTERVIEWER
If you were asked to give advice to somebody who wanted to write humorous fiction, what would you tell him?
WODEHOUSE
The thing to do is to say to yourself, “Which are my big scenes?” and then get every drop of juice out of them. The principle I always go on in writing a novel is to think of the characters in terms of actors in a play. I say to myself, if a big name were playing this part, and if he found that after a strong first act he had practically nothing to do in the second act, he would walk out. Now, then, can I twist the story so as to give him plenty to do all the way through? . . . I mean, once you go saying to yourself, “This is a pretty weak plot as it stands, but I’m such a hell of a writer that my magic touch will make it OK,” you’re sunk. |
 Download a PDF of the full interview |
|
|
|
|
| Related Links |
|
| Authors Mentioned |
| Jack Kerouac, Norman Mailer, S. J. Perelman, Anthony Powell, James Thurber, Franklin Pierce Adams, Robert Benchley, Arnold Bennett, Agatha Christie, Wolcott Gibbs, George S. Kaufman, Jean Kerr, Rudyard Kipling, W. Somerset Maugham, William Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, Rex Stout |
|
|
|
