According to the Writer’s Almanac, Alice Munro, known for her short stories, was born in Wingham, Ontario (1931). She grew up on a farm, and she said,
Reading was an indulgence that you didn’t go in for if there was physical work to be done.
Women were only supposed to read on Sundays, because on every other day of the week they had no excuse to be reading when they could be knitting instead. So as a kid, she was always telling herself stories, and when she didn’t like the endings — like in Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” — she would make up new ones.
She went to college, hoping to become a writer, but she dropped out to get married and have three children. She got divorced and went back to her hometown to take care of her sick father, and she was amazed at how much material there was there. She said,
What I wanted was every last thing, every layer of speech and thought, stroke of light on bark or walls, every smell, pothole, pain, crack, delusion, held still and held together — radiant, everlasting.
And so she took those things, and turned them into short stories. She has written 11 books of short stories, and a new collection, Too Much Happiness, which came out this year. In May, Alice Munro won the Man Booker International Prize.
Here’s her advise to aspiring writers:
It’s not possible to advise a young writer because every young writer is so different. You might say, ‘Read,’ but a writer can read too much and be paralyzed. Or, ‘Don’t read, don’t think, just write,’ and the result could be a mountain of drivel. If you’re going to be a writer you’ll probably take a lot of wrong turns and then one day just end up writing something you have to write, then getting it better and better just because you want it to be better, and even when you get old and think ‘There must be something else people do,’ you won’t quite be able to quit.
What do you think? Is this good advice?
Too Much Happiness: Stories
Story in the New Yorker: Things You May Not Know About Alice Munro
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
From my own personal experience, I find that the quality of my writing reflects what I’m reading at the time. It’s heavier when I’m reading critical theory. It’s more lyrical when I’m reading Forster or someone like that. It’s snarkier and more conversational when I’m reading Julia Quinn. Basically, now it’s only a matter of being able to channel those different attitudes no matter what I’m reading at the time. Especially since the only thing I’ve been reading for the past year and a half is casebooks.
Labor Law is fascinating, but doesn’t make for the best quality of fiction.
Thanks for your comment, Huma. I love how easily you can wear different writing hats.
I think her comments that you quote about how writers get better is spot on, for most of life, not just writing. While we can and hopefully do learn from experienced people who have gone before us, ultimately our lives are a whole lot of trial and error. So enjoy the ride!
Yes, I agree, Anne. I think of life as one big experiment.
I think Munro’s advice is very good. You won’t necessarily become a better writer by “reading a lot.” Some people do, some don’t. I don’t think anyone knows what makes a good writer, but, to quote Justice Potter Stewart on another issues, I know it when I see it.
Additional thought: For years at writer’s conferences I heard presenters tell aspiring writers to, “read, read, read,” but now I’m not so sure that works for everyone.
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