Lawrence Wright
This is a totally intuitive part of the process. I take extensive notes, I read everything I can about the subject, I talk to all the people who will talk to me. But I can't remember everything. Nor is everything that interesting to me. So I go through all my material and put the pertinent information on note cards. That's a way of weeding out the chaff. Then, when I index the cards, it leads very naturally to an outline. It's all labor intensive but I get an overview. The final work involves cutting quite of lot that didn't really need to be there but was helpful along the way.
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Christian Hamaker
asked
Lawrence Wright:
You've won a Pulitzer Prize, but you've also lost after being nominated for a National Book Award for "Going Clear." How do you handle losing an award of that stature? Do you quietly seethe every time you see a reference to the book that won the award in that category instead of your book? (I do. You're too polite and diplomatic to say it, but your book was better.) Thanks for your outstanding work.
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