Chapter 1, The Writer's Nature, Pages 1-34 Summary and Analysis

All starting out to be a "dedicated, uncompromising artist" wants to know if they have what it takes. Most often the answer is "God only knows." Anyone stubborn enough can get published and success breeds success, but building one's skills is more important than getting into print. No indicator of success is foolproof, but a few suggestions are useful.

First, a novelist must have "verbal sensitivity," understanding how language works. Writing with a "tin ear" is hard, and teachers often miss this talent by insisting on "good English." Clichés, careless, and showy language all break the "vivid and continuous dream state" that a novelist must create and sustain in a reader, removing the reader from his environment. Readers are jerked out of this state by authors who feel no attachment...