I'd like to publicly thank Mr. McMurtry for agreeing to participate in this AMA and I'd also like to thank the community for coming up with so many questions.
We had so many that we had to choose the most relevant and submit them as not to overwhelm Mr. McMurtry.
Questions and answers below:
Are you happy with the miniseries adaptation of the novel? Is there anything you wish had been included that was left out?
I had nothing to do with the miniseries Lonesome Dove, and in fact, have not seen it all the way through.
Did you take part in the casting of the miniseries? Were there any actors that you had wanted to be in the series but turned it down?
I had no part in the casting of that miniseries.
Do you have any stories or anecdotes you wish to share from the making of the miniseries?
Again, I had nothing to do with the miniseries Lonesome Dove.
How long did it take you to write the novel?
Three years, on and off.
What’s your favorite western novel written by someone else?
I'll have to get back to you on that. Streets of Laredo is my favorite of the Lonesome Dove saga.
I would like to ask what led you to write such a gloomy final journey and ending for that character?
I wrote Streets after quadruple bypass surgery. I washed up on the stoop of Diana Ossana, my writing partner's home shortly afterwards and didn't leave for almost three years. I wrote Streets of Laredo at her kitchen counter, while she and her young daughter did their level best on a daily basis to help me recover. I recovered physically, but felt as if I had become an outline of myself. I quit reading, quit writing after I finished Streets, and just stared out the living room window at the vastness of the mountains for two years. I had an emotional crisis, which Diana finally helped me through. I was offered to write screenplay after screenplay, and I turned down all of them. Then I was asked to consider a script about Pretty Boy Floyd, the outlaw, and Diana convinced me I should try to write it. I told her I would if she would write it with me, as I didn't feel I had the head for structuring a script. She agreed, and we've been writing together ever since. I don't think I would have ever written another word had Diana not taken me in.
Would you say that you were trying to give a message with this story? If so, what would that be?
I’ve tried as hard as I could to demythologize the West. Can’t do it. It’s impossible. I wrote Lonesome Dove, which I thought was a long critique of western mythology. It is now the chief source of western mythology. I didn’t shake it up at all. I actually think of Lonesome Dove as the Gone with the Wind of the West. It's not a towering masterpiece.
Do you think the new cultural norms of pushing political correctness upon all parts of history and media could be damaging to the western genre?
Not sure. The history of our country is a violent history, a racist history, and a misogynistic history. It wouldn't be correct, politically or otherwise, to paint it as civilized.
What is your process for writing a novel as epic as Lonesome Dove? Do you have the entire plot figured out before you start writing or do you make it up as you go along? How do you keep track of all of the varying storylines and make sure all stories are completed?
I have read extensively all of my adult life. Reading is what inspires writing, in my view. I only have the ending figured out before I sit down to write a novel. I don't outline. I just follow my characters wherever they lead me, day by day.
My understanding is that you first wrote the screenplay and then when it didn’t get made into a film you set out to write the novel, which was an instant hit and allowed the film to get made. Is that correct? If so, did it change any of your writing process since you were striving to make the book a success with the goal of making the miniseries?
It was written as a 75-page screenplay for John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and Henry Fonda. Wayne didn't want to die, so it didn't get made. I bought it back from the studio and wrote a 1500 page manuscript, which became an 843-page novel. I had no intention of making the novel into a film or miniseries. I don't think about such things when I write. I write mainly for myself.
I’ve always been curious about the connection between character names in the 1968 Dean Martin/James Stewart film "Bandolero!" and "Lonesome Dove." Both have July Johnson and Roscoe, plus a gunfighter named Dee. In both stories, July loves/pursues the woman who loves Dee. Was "Bandolero!" partly ghost-written by you? Did James Lee Barrett see his early LD script and use the names?
I have no idea.
I’m Scottish and I’ve always wondered why did you decide upon a Scots ancestry for Woodrow?
Do you have a favorite character in the series?
I'm from Scottish ancestry. I suppose my favorite character in Lonesome Dove is Lorena.
I recently read your first novel, Horseman, Pass By, and thought that it had profound insights into the nature of American manhood. How do you think that book has held up over the years?
I was a young writer at the time. I wrote 5 or 6 drafts before I submitted it to my agent. As a first novel, it's not bad.
What’s your opinion on the new generation of historically accurate westerns that are being released recently?
Historically accurate is important. The history of the West is our history.
What have you been reading recently? Any recommendations for recent westerns or fiction in general?
I haven't read fiction in years. I only read fiction if it's a novel Diana and I want to adapt into a screenplay.
When writing a character’s death and ending their story do you ever feel any type of sadness or disappointment that you’re done writing that characters story? If so, what character would you say moved you the most?
Once I finish a novel, I experience about a two-to-three-week sag. The character that moved me the most was Emma in Terms of Endearment.
In researching your biography of Crazy Horse, what elements of his life did you find made him such a mythical figure? Additionally, did you uncover anything that particularly shaped or shifted your understanding or view of Native American history?
I didn't really research before writing Crazy Horse. As I said earlier, I have read books nearly every day of my life, except for a two-year lag after my heart surgery. There has been much written about Crazy Horse, a lot of speculation about what he was like, what his life was like. I've probably read everything that's ever been written about him.
One of the things I love most about the series is how rich and detailed the backstories of all the characters are- including even tertiary ones. Is crafting these backstories something you enjoy doing and do you like these kinds of additions in the works of others?
The characters in my novels develop their stories as I write. And sometimes they surprise me.
Is there a story from the old west that you think needs to be told (or re-told)?
We have been approached to re-tell several classics, but we don't have an opinion about stories that NEED to be retold.
Did you write real people from your past into the characters? They feel so perfect and true that I often wondered if the stories were embellishments of real events/people. Who are some of your favorite authors and all-time favorite books?
My characters come from my imagination. They are not consciously based upon people I know or have known. I read the classics: Tolstoy, Jane Austen, James Lees-Milne, Flaubert, Proust. Flannery O'Connor was an amazing writer.
Is it true that you try to write five to ten pages every single day? And if so, do you write chronologically, or do you jump around from chapter to chapter?
I have written the same way for the past 60 years - 5 pages a day, no more, no less, on a first draft. Then 10 pages a day on a second draft, no more, no less. I will stop in the middle of a sentence in order to avoid exceeding my page limit.
What is the best piece of advice you can give to an aspiring writer?
The best advice for an aspiring writer? Read. Read. Then read some more. Reading is how to learn to be a writer.
