An Interview with Larry Niven

Critter member Kari Tulinius interviews Larry Niven award winning author of a numerous books and short stories, such as the Ringworld series.

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Do you read fiction while writing? Do you find it alters your own work?

Yes. Maybe.

Do you only write genre fiction, or have you written other forms of fiction? Do you prefer to write genre fiction, and if so, why? Did you learn anything writing other forms of fiction that you feel has improved your skills in genre fiction?

Paying attention to what genre I'm in, would be crippling. I just write the damn story.

Have you written any nonfiction--articles, books, travelogues, restaurant reviews, personal essays, whatnot? Do you find that such writing helps your fiction, or merely gets in the way?

Sure. It's always done for the fun of it. Practice is good; versatility is good.

What is your educational/personal background (are you a PhD physicist, high school graduate, Army brat, jazz musician, skydiving hobbyist, father of ten, etc) and how has this affected your writing -- subject matter, characters, worldbuilding, ideas, etc.?

Bachelor in Math. (D. Litt, honorary.) Rich family. Former wimp, smoker, drinker. Current hiker, yoga, clean living. Everything I do, and everything done to me, works its way into my fiction.

What are you tired of seeing in genre fiction? What staples of the genre would you like to see go to their hard-earned and well-deserved retirement, in favor of something (please, anything!) else?

I've seen enough dragons, vampires, King Arthur retellings.

How long did it take for you to get from "serious about writing" to "selling writer"?

Year and a half.

Did you participate in a workshop? Where there other writers who "made it" with you in that workshop? When do you think that the right time to quit is?

Famous Writers School. (Correspondance.) I quit in the middle of "characterization", 2/3 through, because I was selling.

How did you keep writing in the face of rejections?

Stubbornly.

How do you process raw story ideas?

I play with them, let them play together, until something takes a shape.

How does a basic idea for a story become a whole story?

Sometimes it doesn't. One secret: I almost always know the ending going in.

What comes first while processing aforementioned ideas, characters, plots, setting?

I never can tell.

What do you focus on while creating plots?

"Plots" is critic's jargon. Writers don't need that. I'm just trying to tell myself a story.

How do you create characters? Do you primarily base characters on people you know, or create them from whole cloth?

Generally the story assumptions shape the characters. Who has to be there?

How do you integrate these characters into a story?

Superbly.

What do you keep in mind while writing character interaction?

Who they are. I'm talking for both/all of them. Then again, writing and rewriting them is how I get to know them.

You have worked on a number of collaborations, do you have any advice for writers who intend to collaborate?

Yeah. I wrote an article on the subject. Basic rules: Don't go into it lightly. Be prepared--both of you--to do your 80% of the work. Outline it to death. You wouldn't want to hare off in different directions.

You have often extrapolated stories from new scientific findings, anything which needs special attention when doing so?

Try not to get caught in stupid mistakes.

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2 Aug 1998