Thank you!  

As I've said many times, it's Gryka's book: I just wrote it down.  I hope I've been able to communicate my own thoughts and ideas as clearly and bluntly as hers.

JS

My publisher and I are considering it, but there is no firm release date.

JS

regards
BT

You are absolutely correct that this essay only covers one axis of variation in the continuum of possible approaches to writing, which is multidimensional.

Damien Broderick has also pointed out to me that the transrealists use a similar approach—allowing plot to flow from characterization—and I've seen similar sentiments from Ray Bradbury. I believe that anyone who writes unforgettable characters must allow this to some extent, although I often read books where the narrator/protagonist is very real but the rest of the characters are yanked around like stage props. It's much more difficult (and rewarding) to have two or more people in your head.

I've got a lot more to say about the similarities and differences between my approach and the transrealist approach (and the fiction that springs from it), but that will most likely become another essay in itself.

Thank you for your comments, and I look forward to your thoughts on the book! (Feel free to register for the forums: I love talking about writing, and these comment threads actually live in the forums.)

"There's a lot to be found in very few words inside The Gnoll Credo—and that is precisely because I didn't set out to write something deep or profound. I simply wrote down everything I knew about Gryka's life, and how knowing her affected me—which gives the narrative a richness and verisimilitude totally lacking in polemics like (to pick two opposing examples) Ishmael or The Fountainhead.

"When an author sets out to make a point instead of telling a story, their characters are immediately demoted to the status of objects: bricks to construct…