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 am pleased that this profile captured some of Mr. Lopate's voice, particularly his careful loquaciousness and feeling of being an outsider to his chosen world of literature. These two characteristics inform his style as a personal essayist and are archetypal characteristics of all personal essayists. By loosely structuring the profile as a story, I was able to show appreciation for Lopate's belief in the importance of story, rather than making it depend on a number of images.

As for falling short, I would have liked to have developed the idea of Lopate's style as representative of that of all personal essayists, thus suggesting something more definitive about the entire form.

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 discarded my initial idea of opening the profile with an image - lace panels on a brownstore door - and began instead with a story about Lopate's car getting towed. Both are characteristic of New York life, but the former presents a static gentility uncharacteristic of Lopate's work. In New York, towing is an exasperating experience that initiates you into the club of those who dare have a car. As I wrote the profile, I was surprised at how much substance was amassed in our seemingly formless 2-1/2 hour talk. I credit it to Lopate's having a number of definite opinions about the essay that he felt important to record.

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

Primarily I make my living writing popular reference books and book reviews. Creative nonfiction grants me more freedom in style, general structure, and revealing myself on the page. I experiment more with mixing casual and formal language; most pleasing, I can play more with structure, letting the essay take the shape of a mind at work, with its many mental fish coursing through. Still, reference books and creative nonfiction are linked because I want both to be accessible. A reference book has to reach people easily: It is no good if people can't figure out how to use it. Similarly, the personal essay (the form of creative nonfiction I like best) is a democratic form: That is, I think it comes naturally to people, as writers and as readers. I want to support that idea by making my work as inclusive as possible.

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?

In many ways, the genre of creative nonfiction reflects the state of the profession of writing in America: It is simultaneously belittled and romanticized. Writing is the lowest paying job that everyone wants to do. As for creative nonfiction, people think that anyone can write essays - what's the big deal with Montaigne (or Anna Quindlen or E.B.White)? But people also want dearly to tell their stories or write at length about interesting subjects. Creative nonfiction taps into a human need to know and be heard.

However, though I see creative nonfiction being practiced in variety, I don't see it gaining respect. As Lopate says, our culture does not grant the generalist the authority that gives his/her essay power. Until bookstores have essay sections (as they do fiction, self-help, even new age!) and the academy more fully accepts creative nonfiction as a genre, it will remain an underappreciated form.

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

I am aware of the temptation to be smothered by the hallmarks of other genres. For example, I try to sustain imagery throughout but not be drowned by it. The essay is not a prose poem. Ditto for dialogue. In my essays (not this profile), I use dialogue more sparingly than some writers because I like to be precise about recreating encounters. I transcribed my entire interview with Lopate, recording every "Umm ..." and "Well ..." even if I didn't use them. I use specific detail, but again in moderation.

What advice do you offer young people interested in writing?

To young people who write, take your work seriously, consider yourself a writer (not a writer-to-be), and never give up.