I just read the new book by Alex Ross, "The Rest is Noise" which is a history of classical music in the 20th cventury. It's an exhilirating intellectual tour de force. Ross is the best "describer" of music I've ever read. Music resists being put into words -- they are two very different media. But Ross has the ability to do this -- his descriptions of works I am familiar with is always both precise and exciting. He makes the reader hear or at least want to hear the music. But his major contribution is to fuse 20th century music with the many political and social forces that shaped it. His description of the sufferings of Prokofiev and Shostakovitch under the malign rule of Stalin is tremendously moving. Ross does not make the mistake of glorifying composers just because they were musical geniuses. Richard Strauss, Shostakovitch, Alban Berg, Copland, Schoenberg, Britten all emerge as flawed individuals who happened to have the ability to create great music, sometimes under intensely difficult conditions. None of them was a saint. One wishes Strauss had taken a more decisive stand against Nazism or that Britten didn't like little boys or that Shostakovitch had exhibited more moral courage against Stalin -- but they didn't. What they did was create wonderful music despite their limitations as humans. For Ross, the disintegration of western democracy and society under the twin scourges of Nazism and Communism led to the disintegration of traditional classical music. But the worst of the disintegration took place after World War II when composers abandoned "music" and started producing what is best described as unpleasant noise in pursuit of various elitist political and cultural programs. Ross tries to do justice to these various composers, none of whom ever commanded any attention from the public. It's noteworthy however that few of them are represented in the list of 30 recommended recordings he usefully appends to the book. Instead, we find symphonies by Sibelius and Mahler, Strauss's glorious "Four Last Songs" and concertos by Prokofiev and Ravel. I conclude from this that the past 50 years has mostly been a lost era for classical music with a couple of notable exceptions. Hopefully, the next 50 will see a recovery. Anyone interested in music should read this book but its appeal should be wider than that. This is really a history of the 20th century as reflected through music and as such a magnificent achievement. For more about me and my book, The Nazi Hunter: A Novel, in which music plays a major part, go to www.alanelsner.com.

I read these remarks by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va) in the Washington Post. I'm posting them because they are so true.
"The most disciplined thing I've ever done in my life is probably the act of writing a book -- and novels are harder than nonfiction. People tend to think, Oh, novels, you just start writing a story, and, you know, let the muse take you. But there's enormous discipline in writing novels. I wrote my first one cover to cover seven times. I wrote, I wrote, I wrote, and then I couldn't get it published. When I was on my, like, fifth draft for the book, I was able to get it to a guy named Ted Purdy, a really renowned editor. Anyway, I was sitting here inventing conversations between people who never existed in a room by myself -- and Purdy called me and said, "I'm going to work with you on this." This is a guy who had edited some of the greats, the true greats. And he made me believe. ... Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to write something that I believe is really good. Writing is what I will always do, no matter what. My mind always writes. You never stop writing if you're a writer."

I'm sometimes asked what it's like to write a novel. It's like running a marathon.
I began my latest effort just about a year ago and I've now completed 100,000 words. I guess I have maybe another 10,000 to go but it's hard to say. I've got the end worked out in my mind but I can't tell how many words it will take until I've written them. A whole year of work; I can hardly believe it.
People have asked if I have the whole plot figured out before I begin. Some novelists may work like that but I can't. I started with a vague idea and two characters. The characters were strongly etched in my mind but the plot was nothing more than a shadow. It's come more and more into focus as I'v gone along. I keep changing it. Even now, I'm changing the ending in my head.
It's a thriller which revolves around the State Department press corps (which I was a member of for five years). I tried to include as many details as I could remember about what it's like to travel with the Secretary of State, what kind of food do they serve aboard the plane, what are the onboard briefings like etc etc. I hope this lends the book authenticity and interest.
How do you get to 100,000 words? I try to write something every day. Sometimes I can't manage but most days I do. I've written in the office, at airports, on planes, in cafes and restaurants, in hotels -- wherever. I tend to work in short bursts. I write a couple of hundred words, then stop to think about them, try to imagine the scene more fully, speak the dialogue. I edit myself incessantly. Sometimes I go over the same short passage a dozen times. I write a lot in the middle of the book, going back to add details.
I said I began with two characters in my head -- my protagonist and the villain. Since then, a whole cast of lesser characters have sprung to life in my imagination. It's miraculous to look back on all those words, all the scenes and incidents I've created. I've brought characters to life and then ruthlessly killed them, then decided to let them live after all.
When you're writing a book like this, you think of little else. I carry around a notebook with me in which I jot down ideas, phrases, descriptions. I imagine conversations between characters and with them. I'm at least half thinking about my book almost all the time. I fall asleep most nights thinking about it.
Soon I'll finish the first draft. It's been hard but I know I'll miss the daily writing. Next comes the hard part. I'll send it to friends and colleagues to read and criticize. The first draft is followed by a second and then a third. My agent will have comments. Eventually it will go out to publishers. And then maybe, with God's help, you will be able to read it too.