Ctr for Fiction: Peter Straub on writing.

This practical presentation by Peter Straub (Ghost Story, A Dark Matter, etc.) from April 2011 covers, among other topics, Straub's first attempt at writing a novel ("a mash-up of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Henry James"), point of view, process, and "Five Rules to Avoid Looking Like an Idiot." Along the way, he mentions Ed McBain and the film of Chandler's Lady in the Lake (1947) with Robert Montgomery. Says Straub re writing, "You have to get used to immense amounts of loneliness"; he also thinks outlines can be too constrictive.