TheBookWarren asked Blake Crouch:

Your narratives have such depth & richness to them, as an aspiring novelist I’d Love to know in regards to your process, to you take a concept and work backwards or do you just develop your characters to a point & Just start writing to see where it takes you?

Blake Crouch Starts with a concept. A big idea that I probably only see facets of. I spend a few months taking notes in my brainstorming journals, hoping to see a few scenes and sketch out some characters. Then I come up with a loose outline that goes at least through the midpoint, and when I feel good about it, I start writing. The outline can and should change as I write and discover new things about the story. The characters really don't come fully alive until draft 5 or 6. I don't think you can artificially develop character. They are defined by their actions, and their actions define them. That takes a lot of work and rewriting for them to become as rich and deep as I want them to be. Hope this helps and good luck with your writing!

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