Conversations about Fiction

I’m back. Writing about writing, instead of writing, but hey I just read part of an “advice to writers” interveiw with John Irving, and he said two things.

First, write, then write some more. He said writing was like working out, you have to just do it and build a tolerance up to write lots. Of course I’m paraphrasing, but he did compare it to working out. He also said he learned more about how to write from wrestling, as a competitor, then later as a coach, than he did in any classroom. So here I am writing.

Second, He said to read. Since I have some spare time I’m back to my old ways of reading more than one book at a time. If I have time, I actually get more reading done this way. When one book starts to get boring, instead of abandoning it, I can just switch to another. Just talked to a friend who has some time the next few weeks, and she said she likes to bounce back and forth between non-fiction and fiction. Thanks, Cheryl!

My books to kick start my writing juices are now plenty and varied. I finished Lucky by Alice Sebold (for some reason I always want to change that to Seibold). I’ve started The Lovely Bones, hoping for some inspiration on how to change gears from writing non-fiction/memoir (A Girl Called Jim) to fiction (in progress). It’s actually interesting seeing how she wrote in Lucky, and had to guess what the people around her were thinking and their motives. Then in the fictional Lovely Bones, how the characters were given background and motivation. Like I wonder if one younger character was given and older brother so he had a way to be mobile. For example, 14 and 15yrs olds can’t drive and don’t normally have someone to cart them around town, but give them an older brother with a motorcycle. Now he’s mobile without involving parents.

I’m also on the 3rd book of N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Sky triology, The Stone Sky. The first book I loved and devoured. The second, I loved at first, then weathered trying to get answers. Now a couple hundred pages into the third book, I’m struggling to finish. The characters I loved are gone. Well, not really, I still love the main character… hard to explain without killing the book. Now there are a few characters who talk in a sort of science code. It’s slowing things down way too much for me. I have to think. I’ve actually read this one section 4-5 times over. Finally, just yesterday was able to go “Oh I get it…” and move on. Anyway, happy to be able to continue on, but the writing feels so far away from me, it’s not inspiring to write. Good to read, yes. Inspiring me to write, not so much. Then again, I’m less than half way into the third book. I have hope.

So I’ve taken combined advice from my friend and John Irving. Read lots and swap between fiction and non-fiction/memoir. I was gifted another memoir book, Pretty Mess by Erika Jayne. It reads like a first book, but it’s damn entertaining. Plus, she does not pretend it’s all her writing. She has a co-author. I’m curious now that she’s got the first book kinks out of her system, how she would do on her second book. For every author I’ve read, you can always feel the writing getting better from book one to second and third. If they make it to a 5th, they’re awesome.

Getting to a 5th book is often like a earning a green or brown belt in karate. Green being the first advanced belt in the style I practiced, followed by brown, than black.

Also, I started a couple non-fiction books about writing fiction. The first was The Mental Game of Writing by James Scott Bell. Hollis gifted this to me years ago in one of her many attempts to support my writing. That year I was given a bunch of books on writing and a pillow that read WRITER, and a motivation poster. That book also said to just decide you are a writer and start writing, very similar to John Irving’s advice. Unlike Mr. Irving, Mr. Bell says to surround yourself with things that make you feel like a writer. He bought a mug that said writer, put up photos of inspirational authors and quotes. I already have a mug and the pillow, so… out of excuses.

The second non-fiction book I’ve started to read I bought after I joined a writing Meetup in Kent… that place, that we shall never speak of again. A really cool guy recommended Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, which I haven’t touched. It’s about writing, but in reviews on the book I’ve read she goes into being a single mom, addiction, then finding “faith.” Yeah, that’s not going to hit the top of my list anytime soon. Both guys who ran the meetup also strongly recommended The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler. I’ve started it like 3-4 times and couldn’t get through it. Even while on a plane, it put me to sleep. Although, I was highly stressed that weekend. I plan on giving it another chance. Some books can only be read at the right time. Sorry, long explanation about how I bought this last book. It’s not Bird by Bird, or The Writer’s Journey.

Anyway, it was found on a whim during one of the many stressful days I was wandering a used bookstore, trying not to think about my lack of social life, and the other more serious stressors going on in my life. While searching for Writer’s Journey, I did find Bird by Bird, and then this collection of interviews about fiction writing. The only author I even recognized was John Irving, but since I’m a fan (love Widow for Year) and it was cheap, I bought it. Converstaions on Writing Fiction, Alexander Neubauer is my last book.

Now with books in every room, on my night stand, the office, the “reading room,” I’m set. I just hit over a 1000 words today. Do me a favor and send some white light, good juju and anti-nargles dust my way.

Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen.
~ Willa Cather

I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged.
~ Erica Jong