Terror

November 12, 2008

Every book takes you to the terror, that terrible place of possible failure.—Sandra Cisneros

I’ve been struggling with my book lately– the terror of failure, maybe. But also just the worry that it’s more than I can handle (the book is based on true events; i’m recreating actual incidents).

I look to books like The Danish Girl, by David Ebershoff, inspired by the true story of Danish painter Einar Wegener,the first person to undergo sex reassignment surgery in the 1920s.

(it was recently announced that a film version is on the way which Nicole Kidman will produce and star in).

Or Joyce Caroll Oates’, Blonde, which fictionalized the life of Marilyn Monroe.

Or, more recently, my fellow Columbian’s wonderful book, The Painter From Shanghai, based on the life of Pan Yuliang and set in early-20th Century China.

How did these writers do it?

Any words of wisdom for writing about true people, true events?