I am currently reading the Atlantic Monthly 2010 Fiction Issue and came across this essay by Richard Bausch entitled:
How to Write in 700 Easy Lessons: The Case Against Writing Manuals.
If you are a professional writer, or aspire to be one, you might find it interesting. In the beginning, I read my share of books on the ‘how to’ of writing, but I ultimately found that I learned how to write by doing the actual work of writing every day and by reading a lot of literary fiction (the genre I write in). Of course every writer is different.
What do you think? Can ’how to’ manuals actually teach a person to write? Do you think reading books/novels/poems helps people become better writers? As usual, I’d love to hear from you.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
Finally, a word about this kind of instruction: it is always less effective than actually reading the books of the writers who precede you, and who are contemporary with you. There are too many “how-to” books on the market, and too many would-be writers are reading these books in the mistaken idea that this will teach them to write. I never read such a book in my life, and I never will. What I know about writing I know from having read the work of the great writers. If you really want to learn how to write, do that. Read Shakespeare, and all the others whose work has withstood time and circumstance and changing fashions and the assaults of the ignorant and the bigoted; read those writers and don’t spend a lot of time analyzing them. Digest them, swallow them all, one after another, and try to sound like them for a time. Learn to be as faithful to the art and craft as they all were, and follow their example. That is, wide reading and hard work. One doesn’t write out of some intellectual plan or strategy; one writes from a kind of beautiful necessity born of the reading of thousands of good stories poems plays… One is deeply involved in literature, and thinks more of writing than of being a writer. It is not a stance.
The full article can be read here.
My website: www.susangabriel.com
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I think writing and other creative endeavors are too personal for a manual. For instance, check out this link, which talks about the writing strategies used by several famous authors (Hemingway, King, Joyce, etc).
http://www.zimbio.com/Ernest+Hemingway/articles/41/FEATURE+Ernest+Hemingway+500+words+day+help
Notice anything? They all do something different. For me, personally, I could never do a daily word and/or page quota, but some other writers can’t get anything done without it. To each, his or her own.
I have been in classes where I did writing exercises, though. One in particular (the short story had to start with the sentence, “I am a liar.”) resulted in some very good writing on my part. But I consider that sort of thing to be a source of inspiration (take this idea and run with it) rather than “how to write.”
I think we could spend a lazy fall afternoon discussing this topic (your place or mine?). It is popular advice however, I would not go so far to say that reading is the way to learn to write any more than I would say going to the art museum is the way to learn to paint.
Great comments, ladies. Sonja, I love the link you submitted. Interesting how different writers have different styles. And Nadine, I’d love to have you over for tea some afternoon and discuss this.
Meanwhile, here is another very thoughtful comment that came in by email:
“Hi Susan,
”
Interesting article. My personal take on it? The “arts” are born in some people. You can be taught the music scale, or how to measure depth perception on a canvas, or sentence structure and punctuation, but some just have a natural “calling” to a certain genre, and others, do not, regardless to how much they read about it or study it. I also think that one can drift into “overkill” joining every group, reading every possible instruction, and buying every “how to” CD or DVD available. To me, part of the mystique, longevity and appeal of the “masters”, is the fact that most dared to forge their own way, with many braking away from convention and tradition. I see everyone as unique in their own special way, and sometimes one can be in the right place at the right time to have their particular uniqueness recognised. I am always saddened when a truly creative an innovative person is remembered, posthumously. This is just my opinion, however, and I whole heartily believe, if one is drawn to the arts, really drawn, they are compelled by an inner force to act on it, whether the effort is ever recognised or not.
I should like to be able to write with the commitment of Tolstoy, the wit of Shakespeare, the humour of Erma Brombeck, the eye for detail of Daphné Du Maurier and the swooning passion of Shamim Sarif. (A girl can only dream)
700? Is that all it takes?
> I also think that one can drift into “overkill”
> joining every group, reading every possible
> instruction, and buying every “how to” CD or
> DVD available. To me, part of the mystique,
> longevity and appeal of the “masters”, is the
> fact that most dared to forge their own way,
> with many braking away from convention and tradition.
I very much agree. Most really successful people never bought these How to manuals or worried too much about the established protocol. This doesn’t mean just defying (or ignoring, or being ignorant of) all the rules guarantees “genius,” but I also find some of the most boring writing comes from lit majors from the likes of NYU and Berkeley who dot every i and cross every t.
You can follow every rule and revise your work till it’s polished to a high gloss, yet still have nothing to say. The “arts” are full of pieces like that.