Reading, Writing, Loving the Printed Word
At the risk of becoming one who reads reviews of books instead of the books, I need to discuss one of the reviews from yesterday's New York Times Book Review list of the 100 Notable Books of the Year.
The book, Reading Like a Writer, by Francine Prose, was reviewed by Emily Barton ("Brush Up Your Chekhov") in late August.
(An aside, here. I get the New York Times on-line. On line you can find the original reviews for the list of 100 books. Check out www.nytimes.com/books. In the "hard copy" only the list exists. At the end of my work day yesterday, I had to beg the clerk at Barnes and Noble to sell me the remaining copy, which was on the floor, in disarry, behind the counter. I needed to hold the newsprint in my hand--reading is also a tactile experience.)
Reading Like a Writer is now on my wish-list. Oh, hell. I'll probably just go out and buy it.
In it several authors' books on writing are listed--Eudora Welty's One Writer's Beginnings, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, and Stephen King's On Writing--as heartening, but so personal that "the advice to be gleaned from them is scattershot."
But isn't it the personal that we are all seeking. No matter how many workshops, or classes beginning--as yet unpublished--writers take, it all comes down to the personal.
It is King's On Writing that completely changed my approach to writing. Until I did his one exercise, which he reluctantly included because of the title he'd chosen, I thought I must follow my journalistic background--just the facts, nonfiction. First as a newspaper reporter, then as a medical editor for nearly 20 years (facts, facts, facts, research, research, research), I struggled with how to tell the stories I had grown up with. "Changing the names to protect the innocent" does not suffice when the subject matter includes a region no larger than 20 miles square. I would have to change my name, perhaps go into a witness-protection program.
King asks his reader to do a small exercise, two pages max. He sets the scene. If I remember, someone is creeping up on someone, through the door, down the stairs, something. After you've got an image in your head, he then asks you to switch the gender of the people you've begun to see. Wow. Yes. That worked. I ended up writing what was to me, a funny, grisly murder scene. I had no idea I could be so violent--the murder weapon was a piano wire!
I was on a new path. Thank you Mr. King.
Although several people die in my novel, and two of them are probably murdered, I will not be examing Mr. King's books to pick up clues about his style of writing.
My novel is in my style, and it is about family, the land, and righting past wrongs. While I am still writing I will continue to read books with rich character development. Oh, yes, and anything that has a little surprise at the end.
Angela
The book, Reading Like a Writer, by Francine Prose, was reviewed by Emily Barton ("Brush Up Your Chekhov") in late August.
(An aside, here. I get the New York Times on-line. On line you can find the original reviews for the list of 100 books. Check out www.nytimes.com/books. In the "hard copy" only the list exists. At the end of my work day yesterday, I had to beg the clerk at Barnes and Noble to sell me the remaining copy, which was on the floor, in disarry, behind the counter. I needed to hold the newsprint in my hand--reading is also a tactile experience.)
Reading Like a Writer is now on my wish-list. Oh, hell. I'll probably just go out and buy it.
In it several authors' books on writing are listed--Eudora Welty's One Writer's Beginnings, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, and Stephen King's On Writing--as heartening, but so personal that "the advice to be gleaned from them is scattershot."
But isn't it the personal that we are all seeking. No matter how many workshops, or classes beginning--as yet unpublished--writers take, it all comes down to the personal.
It is King's On Writing that completely changed my approach to writing. Until I did his one exercise, which he reluctantly included because of the title he'd chosen, I thought I must follow my journalistic background--just the facts, nonfiction. First as a newspaper reporter, then as a medical editor for nearly 20 years (facts, facts, facts, research, research, research), I struggled with how to tell the stories I had grown up with. "Changing the names to protect the innocent" does not suffice when the subject matter includes a region no larger than 20 miles square. I would have to change my name, perhaps go into a witness-protection program.
King asks his reader to do a small exercise, two pages max. He sets the scene. If I remember, someone is creeping up on someone, through the door, down the stairs, something. After you've got an image in your head, he then asks you to switch the gender of the people you've begun to see. Wow. Yes. That worked. I ended up writing what was to me, a funny, grisly murder scene. I had no idea I could be so violent--the murder weapon was a piano wire!
I was on a new path. Thank you Mr. King.
Although several people die in my novel, and two of them are probably murdered, I will not be examing Mr. King's books to pick up clues about his style of writing.
My novel is in my style, and it is about family, the land, and righting past wrongs. While I am still writing I will continue to read books with rich character development. Oh, yes, and anything that has a little surprise at the end.
Angela
posted by Seven Authors in A Private Conversation at 9:11 AM
1 Comments:
Angela! Your first post! Yes, I love books on writing too (but I love writing more). Hopefully this means you've conquered your little demon (the cute one who moved in a few weeks ago). Or tamed her. You go girl! ~ Victoria
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