Room to Dwell: A Matter of Writerly Craft
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
I have been making my way through the tower of books on my chair—the staggeringly tall, strangely diverse (even for me) pile of poems, nonfiction, popular fiction, literary fiction, historical fiction, and such classics as Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Each day another book, and in this book-rubbed-against-book way I learn again what I seek as a reader, and what makes me impatient. I learn (or I affirm) some essential something about writerly process and craft.
Yesterday, while reading a book that did not work as well for me as it did for those who made it a bestseller, I kept asking myself why. Why am I impatient? Why do I so audibly sigh? Why do I remain above the surface of this story, unwilling to sink in? The book is a mystery and it is well written. It is perfectly paced and has heart. I like the author and the way she answers questions. What, indeed, is my problem?
It was, I realized this: The factual foundations for the story did not feel fully anchored. They seemed textbook gleaned, plunked in. Mathematics, for example, plays a large role in this novel; it is the lifeblood stuff of two main characters. But having grown up with a brother with an extreme proclivity for math (an understatement, that), having a sense, therefore, for how math-minded people talk about what they know and love, I never felt as if the math talk in this book rang true. Accurate—absolutely. Well-researched—no question. But true is something else again. True is owned, not borrowed.
How difficult it is to own that about which we choose to write. How much more it entails than the reading of books, the Googling of data, the one or two interviews. One must, I think, take the time to dwell—to three-dimensionalize the facts that have been found so that they accrete with meaning and make some room for sink.
5 comments:
surfaces and sinking...
great observation and
well said!
so many different levels of writing, writers. one that resonates with me may not resonate with you...
but you are good to remind us to ask Why! very nice post.
peace~
I sometimes worry that I'll subconsciously "borrow" an idea of image when I read others' poetry. For several months now, I haven't really spent any time reading my poetry anthologies in an attempt to keep true to the poetry within me. I almost want to be in a "pure state" when it comes to poetry. I want to "own" my poems wholly. As I mature as a poet, I hope that I will be more comfortable reading poetry during my poetry composition days.
What a wonderful thoughtful and wise post ... thanks for your words of wisdom!
That is so apt: true is owned not borrowed.
I read an enjoyable book, also popular, about a Muslim woman from Afghanistan who was a refugee in Denmark.
About halfway through I had the strong feeling that this was researched, not felt, not intimately known. There was a certain patness, not wrong, but off about the character.
When I read about the author I saw indeed that she had lived in Denmark but was Indian and had researched refugees.
I think that when you know a field, whether as a writer, or the field of the novel, it is harder to get into a book that isn't quite right.
To quote my 10 yesr old:
True dat!
Beth I have the same difficulties you do, I must immerse myself completely in whatever I'm reading, writing..whatever.
I'm very method :)
It is the only true way I can fully understand the experience.
PS While flipping through one of my mags ( Family Circle) at the lake I saw someone very familiar :)
Peace - Rene
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