David J. Kelly is a literature and creative writing instructor at several colleges in Illinois. In this essay he sets the scene in which Baby is shot, and explains why it was necessary to add the scene to the novel's final draft even though it does not immediately involve any of the central characters.

One of the great things about a meticulouslycrafted novel like The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is that readers get to watch it unravel slowly, feeling secure with its sense of order, knowing, even during those passages where they cannot see the grand scheme, that the author is in control and most likely is not wasting her readers' time. Another great thing about reading the work of a structure fanatic is that they often plan early what the novel is going to do, where it is going to go, what the characters are...