Ruth Ozeki, Writing Is a Form of Prayer

Ruth Ozeki: Writing Is ‘a Form of Prayer’ - Scene Asia - WSJ: "How much research went into the book? A lot. A book grows out of the research. It’s not as though I have the idea of the whole book. I have an idea or a character’s voice in my head and I start writing. The story starts to emerge and I get an idea, then I start to research that idea and it feeds the next section of the book. Very often ideas themselves come from something that has come across my desk. In 2001, I came across news about some kamikaze pilot diaries, and by 2007 that character appeared in my novel. The novel is kind of like a debris field floating across the ocean. There are shards and fragments of things that have popped into my mind...."

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