Eyes wide and blank as the buttons on a first Communion coat. Donald E. Westlake More Quotes by Donald E. Westlake More Quotes From Donald E. Westlake A friend of mine, now retired, was then a major exec at a major bank, and one of her jobs, the last four years, was the farewell interview. Donald E. Westlake farewell jobs funny Everybody in New York is looking for something. Once in a while, somebody finds it. Donald E. Westlake new-york All of the changes in publishing since 1960 are significant. There are far fewer publishers. Donald E. Westlake 1960s significant publishing I have no known marketable skills. Donald E. Westlake If it weren't for received ideas, the publishing industry wouldn't have any ideas at all. Donald E. Westlake publishing industry ideas If you think of movie studio executives, say, as society, then I root for the independent producers. Donald E. Westlake independent roots thinking I start with the story, almost in the old campfire sense, and the story leads to both the characters, which actors should best be cast in this story, and the language. The choice of words, more than anything else, creates the feeling that the story gives off. Donald E. Westlake choices giving character When Stark isn't off sulking somewhere, or whatever he's doing when he won't return my calls, I alternate between the two. That usually works well, though occasionally an idea for the wrong guy drifts through my mind. Donald E. Westlake guy two ideas There are a couple of writers I admired who were very good at giving the character's emotion without stating what that emotion was. Not saying "He was feeling tense," instead saying, "His hand squeezed harder on the chair arm," as if staying outside the guy. I wanted to try doing that. I wanted to have a really emotional story in which the characters' emotions are never straight - out told to you, but you get it. Donald E. Westlake emotional couple giving For a long while, I found Parker impossible. He went away for 23 years. I tried to bring him back a few times, and I sort of figured out where he came from, why he went away, and why he came back. The thing that I have to tap into for Parker is in some way the outsider. If I can tap into the outsider, I can write about Parker, and if I can't, I can't. Donald E. Westlake outsiders writing long Parker wasn't supposed to be a series. He was supposed to be one book, and if he was only going to be in one book, I didn't worry about it. And then an editor at Pocket Books said "Write more books about him." So I didn't go back at that point and give him a first name. If I'd known he would've been a series, I would've done two things differently. First, I would've given him a first name because that means for 27 books, I've had to find some other way to say, "Parker parked the car." Donald E. Westlake writing mean book It's so difficult, particularly with an antisocial character. It's much easier if he's already a blank page, but once you've written on him, it's hard to keep him that stripped down. Donald E. Westlake antisocial difficult character The only thing I learned from the architecture is keep the bathroom and the kitchen near each other, so you don't have to run pipes all over the place. Donald E. Westlake bathroom kitchen running Years ago, I heard an interview with violinist Yehudi Menuhin. The interviewer said, "Do you still practice?" And he said, "I practice every day." He said, "If I skip a day, I can hear it. If I skip two days, the conductor can hear it. And if I skip three days, the audience can hear it." Oh, yes, you have to keep that muscle firm. Donald E. Westlake violinist firm audience I don't think I ever have trouble with writer's block. It's different when you make it up as you go - that means you're going to get stuck. I wouldn't call it writer's block, I'd say, "I don't know where the hell this story is going." Donald E. Westlake block mean thinking I know people who have suffered writer's block, and I don't think I've ever had it. A friend of mine, for three years he couldn't write. And he said that he thought of stories and he knew the stories, could see the stories completely, but he could never find the door. Somehow that first sentence was never there. And without the door, he couldn't do the story. I've never experienced that. But it's a chilling thought. Donald E. Westlake block writing thinking The British were doing crime stories first, but the British thing is a very different thing. There, the stories are about restoring a break in the fabric of society. The American thing has never been worrying about breaks in the fabric of society, but about people doing their job, whether it's police procedurals or criminals or whatever. Donald E. Westlake police worry people In the first batch of readers, back in the '60s and '70s, the criminal class was still literate, so I would get letters from people in prison; they thought that I was somebody whom they could shop-talk with, and they would tell me very funny stories. I got a lot of those. Guys who were going to wind up doing 10 to 15 for bank robbery, yes, were reading my books. Donald E. Westlake reading book people My wife says in Richard Stark's world, the honest citizens are goofy. Okay, they are. I don't know if it's good or bad, but because he's outside his own world, it sort of freed up the environment around him to be a little more looser and goofier. Donald E. Westlake goofy wife world In a funny way, the stories keep themselves alive by emerging from one another. I like that. Donald E. Westlake emerging
