“I was born,” the Mouse said. “I must die. I am suffering. Help me. There, I just wrote your book for you.” — Samuel R. Delany

Bear in mind that the novel—no matter how intimate, psychological, or subjective—is always a historical projection of its own time.

There are three types of actions: purposeful, habitual, and gratuitous. Characters, to be immediate and apprehensible, must be presented by all three.

The inevitable is that unprepared for.