You know, Mouse, I envy the captain. He’s got a mission. And his obsession precludes all that wondering about… — 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.

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

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