Susanna asked Maggie Shipstead:

I love your novels, thanks for writing! I would like to know how you come up with the characters? When reading your books, it seems like you can describe what men and women of different ages are thinking and feeling so incredibly well. How did you gain the ability to imagine this? Is it something that you just understand or is it something you deliberately studied?

Maggie Shipstead Thanks, Susanna! I'm glad you feel that way about my characters, although I don't have a very good answer. To a certain extent, being able to write from a range of perspectives is something that comes relatively naturally to me, but it's also something I work hard at and think about a lot. For me, character is more difficult to figure out than, say, structure or language, so my revisions are often about adding depth and life to my characters. When I'm struggling, I often have to stop and focus very deliberately--like, eyes closed--on who this person is and what they would really say or do in a given moment. When I read a book or story I admire, I always try to identify what the author has done to create vibrant characters. Then I try to mimic their method.

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