The Watch That Ends the Night by Allan Wolf

This may take a day, a week, a month, or so. I will literally write my way to what needs to be written. And then I’ll forget about it a while as I let the characters and the action take on a life of their own. (I usually have some sort of outline, from simple notes to complex index cards). In my experience, this type of revision happens before I write a word. But revision, to me is more “meta.” During revision, a writer is simultaneously looking at “the big picture” (the arc of development, the length of each passage, the motivation and growth of characters, etc) and the “controlling theme” (the indefinable, yet inevitable, “heart” of the writing). In fact, they DO cross paths-and bump and cuddle and collide and dance all the time. Which is not to say that they do not cross paths. Kris: At what point in your crafting of a new project does revision come into play?Īllan: I consider revision and editing two separate things. Q & A with Poet, Author, and Performer Allan Wolf With literally hundreds of poems committed to memory, Wolf travels the country presenting author visits and poetry shows for all ages. His latest verse novel, Who Killed Christopher Goodman? is based on the murder of a high school friend in the summer of 1979. A winner of the prestigious Claudia Lewis Poetry Award from Bank Street College, Wolf’s many books showcase his love of history, research, and poetry.

Two-time winner of the North Carolina YA Book Award, Wolf is an author and performance poet based in Asheville, NC. If you haven’t, I’m honored to introduce you to a writer you need to know now.Īllan Wolf’s The Watch That Ends the Night was named by Booklist as one of the 50 Best Young Adult Books of All Time. If you’ve ever met Allan Wolf, seen him perform, or read his writing, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Sometimes, I meet another writer and just go “Wow.” I’m inspired and in awe, and then I dive into that writer’s work and find myself saying, “Wow, wow, wow” once again.

The Watch That Ends the Night by Allan Wolf