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Book Report: Christine Roberts


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The Art of Fiction: I had the good fortune of drinking in some of the same bars Gardner frequented. I was an undergrad at SIU-Carbondale. Didn't know him. Or maybe I did. I drank a lot in those days, then went back to the dorm and had ponderous discussions about the meaning of everything. Maybe this is where this book came originated. I might have been there. I don't remember, but it makes a good story, particularly if one forgets that Gardner was a family man with young children and a national reputation following the publication of Grendel. Did I know him? Probably not. Did I sit in the dorm lounge, drinking crappy beer and pontificating about the virtues of clean writing? Hell yes. What English major hasn't? Gardner's insights remind me of the art school argument: You can't paint like Picasso until you understand how to paint like Rembrandt. Understand color. Form. Composition. Gardner lays out the basics and I'm doggedly working through his exercises, humbled, realizing that in my arrogance, I've missed the foundations of good writing.

 

Writing the Breakout Novel: This is my second time through Maass' book.The first time, I got butterflies in my stomach. So much to do. So many tricks to learn. Everything I produced was shit and my characters were boring and obvious and I hated writing so I needed to quit... Then I calmed down and rewrote the pages. Let Maass' insights roll around in the back of my brain. And my character's stopped being so obvious. Their actions had some surprise. I liked them and beta readers wanted to know what happened to them. If I carry anything from this book it's this: Twist your plot. Make your characters spin around and start over. And keep doing it until you've got a good story to tell.

 

Write Away: George's insights ranged from the incredibly obvious (How to Write a Sentence) to the interesting. I've highlighted entire pages — How to Build Suspense, Creating Intriguing Settings —and will likely return any time I'm stuck. My take-away has been this: There is no fill-in-the blank template. Writing is more like a buffet. A little from the steam table, some from the carving station, pick and choose from the salad bar. I find it very much in keeping with the Algonkian course.

 

The Writing Life: If, as a neophyte, this was the only book on writing I'd read, I would not be a writer. Dillard's view is dismal and discouraging. Why bother? It's a long, hard slog of solitary confinement. An endless, savage Russian winter of a life. I found myself screaming at the page "Stop making it seem so HARD!!!" My takeaway: Don't read Dilliard's "The Writing Life" if you're looking for encouragement. But if you must persist, strive not to be The Author, concerned with how one looks in a hat. I imagine you'd consider this in keeping with the program if your end game was to make writers work harder.

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"King of Pantsers"?




ALGONKIAN SUCCESS STORIES








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