What pleases you about the way your essay turned out? Are there any ways in which you feel it fell short of your original goal?

I like the fact that I finished it at all. It has some moments of uncomfortable honesty that please me. I'm not sure I succeeded in welding a narrative and an analytical piece: I felt too much at the mercy of reporting the "facts" and can't tell if the power of the event comes through on the page.

How did your essay develop, both in your initial thinking about it and in the revision process? What happened in the writing of it that you didn't expect would happen?

I initially thought I would write a much longer essay, on Lily's first year. Her birth was supposed to be a prologue, but took over. Also, I hadn't known I would reach the conclusion I did, about solipsism.

How does your experience writing in creative nonfiction depend upon or depart from your work in other genres (poetry, fiction, playwriting, literary criticism)?

It's all the same. Maybe I feel more comfortable writing essays than poetry or fiction because I don't have to work myself into quite as emotional or "inspirational" state; I can be cooler, more rational, and trust more to analysis than invention.

Speculate about creative nonfiction as an emerging genre in American literature. Where do you see it going in the next several years, or even farther down the line?

I've written about this (see my anthology, "The Art of the Personal Essay"). As a form, it's obviously drawing a lot of interest: more memoir pieces than Montaignean reflections, alas.

What are the specific literary techniques you attempt to use as a creative nonfiction writer? Scenes? Dialogue? Specific detail, etc.?

I do everything; I use all the techniques I can: scenes, dialogue, conversational address to the reader, humor, philosophy, sensuous detail. Anything that will bring the piece alive.

What advice do you offer young people interested in writing?

My advice to young people is that if you can't not write, go to it. But don't quit your day job.