The Writing of a Novel

The project I offer, being a novel in progress, is a reflection on its roots and processes that challenged both my creative and critical skills. The writing of a novel is primarily a work of the imagination. And yet it requires complex analytical and logical capabilities in content development, structuring and design, the developing of criteria for evaluation of material and the organizing of both material and time. While the actual writing of this book started only in the summer of 1997, the gestation period has been long and difficult. The challenging of my own perceptions and opinions through dialogue, debate, study and real experience is a critical part of the learning curve that I as I writer and teacher am going through. The book hopes to capture some of that conflict and share any understanding that arises from it with the reader. The project is divided into three main sections, (1) the background to the book and the roots of the project, (2) the writing process and (3) six chapters of the novel itself. The first section details some of the main philosophic and political issues that are central to the theme of the book. The second section tries to identify and explain the challenges and issues that I encountered during the course of the project and relate them to relevant concept from the psychological literature. And the third section, though still very much a novel in progress, is intended to communicate the essence and flavor of the story