I’m writing a novel. Actually, I finished writing this novel quite some time ago. Now I’m revising. The work of revising seems to take everything out of me, which is why I seldom show up on this blog. Between writing and revising, thinking about the revision, tossing scenes I used to like, writing new scenes, more revision and research—I’ve hardly anything left over. It seems easier to post the words of other writers. So I turned to my treasured copy of Sophy Burnham’s For Writers Only and thought it was pretty funny that this is where the book fell open:

“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” — W. Somerset Maugham

Thank you, Mister Maugham.