END NOTES:

Other Matters

As fiction writers, our job is to give experiences to our readers. And what you yourself don’t have you can’t give to others. Since we can’t fully live the lives of all of our characters, we have to let our characters do it for us through the instrument of the imagination that allows us to inhabit those characters and their experiences as fully, as richly, as deeply as possible. I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart’s affections and the truth of imagination. Surrender to that instrument, trust its truths and find the forms that fit them best, and you’ll write good—and even great—fiction.

Q.DO YOU THINK WRITING WORKSHOPS
ARE A GOOD IDEA?

A.I do—up to a point. That point comes when you can no longer stand participating in writers’ workshops. There comes a time when you simply don’t want to hear twelve or more more-or-less random opinions about your work-in-progress, when you realize that of those twelve sets of opinions maybe one is worth anything to you. At that point you should consider cultivating a private relationship with that person, and ditch the group.

But feedback is important. As I’ve said elsewhere, if you can find one or two good readers of your work, people who understand and value your intentions and who can be constructively honest, treasure their souls.

Q.WHAT ABOUT BOOKS ABOUT WRITING? ARE
THERE ANY WORTH READING?

A.I hope this one was worth reading. They range from purely prescriptive (nuts and bolts) to purely inspirational and philosophical. I tend to prefer writing books that are more philosophical, mainly because they tend to be better written, and also because they avoid pat formulas or “recipes.” A novel may be many things, a pot of soup isn’t one of them.

In choosing writing books to read, I look first to the author’s style. If the author can’t impress me with the sound of her own voice, I’m not that sure I want to apply her wisdom to mine. And since I don’t separate style from substance, I distrust any advice dispensed through a poor style. That’s just how I’m built.

A “poorly written writing book” would seem to be oxymoronic, and yet there are many out there. Most writing books are poorly written.

A handful that aren’t:

The Lonely Voice, Frank O’Connor
Burning Down the House, Charles Baxter
The Art of Fiction, John Gardner
If You Want to Write, Brenda Euland
The Practice of Writing, David Lodge
Aspects of the Novel, E.M. Forster
Mystery and Manners, Flannery O’Connor
First Paragraphs, Painted Paragraphs, Invented Voices, Donald Newlove
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on the Writing Life, Anne Lamott
Art & Reality: Ways of the Creative Process, Joyce Cary

Also:

Joseph Conrad’s preface to “The Nigger and the Narcissus”
The letters of Anton Chekhov