Jobie asked Lawrence Wright:

How does writing fiction feel different from writing non-fiction? More or less research? Do you feel a different kind of energy/inspiration (I don't mean energy in a necessarily mystical sense but in a 'energy for work' sense).

Lawrence Wright It's always a mystery where ideas come from. Once you have an idea, the next question is what form does it take? Is it a play? A nonfiction book? A novel? A movie? One lesson I've learned is that the same story can be told in many different formats. I wrote a novel about Manuel Noriega, the former dictator of Panama, and I completed it on the set of the movie--the opposite of the usual procedure! I've written about Texas in a nonfiction book and a play, and now I'm working on a musical. So be open to trying new approaches.

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