Harry Turtledove Writes Because He Can't Not Write

Posted on April 23, 2011

Alternate history master Harry Turtledove explains why he writes in an article on Publishers Weekly's website. Turtledove says he writes because he "can't not do it." He says he has been telling stories for as long as he has been literate. Turtledove says being able to write well enough to make a living at it has advantages.

Turtledove says, "I set my own hours. I eat when I'm hungry and sleep when I'm sleepy. I work on projects that I want to work on, when I want to work on them. Only one person-my editor-stands between me and my audience. For someone who spent 11½ years in the midst of an educational bureaucracy, if that's not heaven, you can sure see it from there."

Turtledove says a downside to being able to set his own hours is that he is a very tough boss. Turtledove also says he is not a writer who plans in advance what happens next. He says, "I usually know in broad terms where I'm going, but not how I'll get there. And getting there, as in so many things, is much of the fun."