An excellent book about writers

Here's my Goodreads review for the book I finished yesterday. I already put a couple of my favorite passages on an earlier post, I'll add a couple more below.

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One of the best books about writing I've read, though it's not a how-to. Betsy Lerner was an editor for 15 years at a few houses, and is now an agent (she was also a poet.) She says the first half of her book is meant as an encouragement to those stalled in their writing or afraid of writing; maybe because that's not my problem, I just found it to be a celebration of writers. She tells great stories both from her own career and from the lives of famous writers and their editors, and really gives you the drive to just keep pushing onward. It's full of quotable moments.

The second half is her advice about the publishing industry, step-by-step from querying to marketing. If it were only practical advice the book wouldn't be that different from others and I'd have been disappointed. But again she brings her personal stories and a wealth of anecdotes to the subject matter, so in the end it feels like you've spent a week having lunches with your new New York publishing friend. 

Finally, Lerner just writes really well. Clear prose, funny, inspiring, and though her background is in literary fiction she doesn't turn her nose up at popular writing. I don't just recommend this to writers, but to people who love books and want the insider scoop on the old world of publishing (the one that's likely on the cusp of a radical overhaul.)
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In this part Lerner talks about the possibility that what you loved about books was that there was no censure, and in them you were free to express anything about yourself:

All my life, people have scolded me for having an excess of feeling, saying that I was too sensitive--as if one could be in danger from feeling too much instead of too little. But my outsize emotions were well represented in books .... In the slyly dark and chilling lines of one of my favorite British poets, Philip Larkin, I found images that cracked the world open. I am not suggesting a writer let it bleed so much as I am suggesting that he harness whatever drives him.

I suggest you stalk your demons. ... If you have been unable to make your work count or stick, you must grab them by the neck and face them down. And whatever you do, don't censor yourself.

Oddly enough I identify with that, cause when I was a teenager sometimes people tried to tell me I should write realistic stories, instead of my wild and crazy comedies about my friends as adults. (Must be the reason I'm the only person who doesn't like Little Women. Jo is no role model for me!) To this day I have to suppress an eye-roll when someone asks me: Why don't you write about what you know?

Heyer and Wodehouse rescued me. They proved you can write the most ridiculous novels, bring all your craft to them, and they'll sparkle like diamonds. So... what drives me? What do I need to harness? Making people laugh. That's all. And what do I know? I know human beings. It was good enough for Shakespeare who, as far as we know, wasn't an Italian teenager, or a suicidal Dane.

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In a later chapter Lerner quotes Salinger on a related topic:

"One day, a long time from now you'll cease to care anymore whom you please or what anybody has to say about you. That's when you'll produce the work you're capable of."

Mind, there are writers who did that alienated them from their friends (Truman Capote) or angered entire communities (Philip Roth). I don't know if my comedy will ever require that of me!

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"'I wrote stories from the time I was a little girl,' recalled Joan Didion, 'but I didn't want to be a writer. I wanted to be an actress. I didn't realize then that it's the same impulse. It's make believe. It's performance.'"

Lerner has other quotes about writers writing from an early age, but I that one makes me laugh cause when I was little I used to like dancing, and I wanted to be a "star" when I grew up. Nothing specific like an actor or a singer or a dancer. Just a star.

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"...antisocial behavior is essential. An absolute solipsism takes over as the writer becomes more alive inside his work than in the real world. ... What look like neurosis and eccentric behavior may provide the crucial barricade that enables the writer to work when everything in life conspires to distract him or co-opt his energies."

This is why I depend on my husband or friends to make me leave the house sometimes. Unfortunately I only have one friend who isn't as bad as me (thanks Swiss Girl.) They're not writers, what's their excuse? They're all artsy I guess. When I was in high school and Swiss Girl would call and I'd been writing, she could always tell, cause I'd have nothing to say. I was happy to listen, but words would escape me for the first twenty minutes or so.

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"A good editor should be able to go as many rounds as a writer needs to get his manuscript just right, though an inverse equation often rules: those books that require the most work may be the least improved by editing. ... The finest writers, often perfectionists, tend to require the least amount of the editor's time.  ... As the first editor I ever worked for said, after finishing his line-edit on a very fine biography that was eleven years in the making, 'It was like polishing silver.'"

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"What goes on between a writer and an editor is as mysterious and alchemical as a marriage. ... Most [writers] have such deeply ambivalent feelings about what they deserve and how good they are that they are often bouncing between their desire for approval and fear of rejection. Then again, if they didn't struggle with issues of need, attention, disapproval, isolation, and social life, chances are they wouldn't be writers."

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That's it. I have many other passages bookmarked, but these were the most quotable.

Weekend Post: Evil Cats, Graphic Novels, Books on Writing, AND PRINCE PRINCE PRINCE PRINCE PRINCE!!!!!!

CATS (or Teh Evil Ones)

* Apparently our good friend and wee elf Urthalun DOES have A Fault! Hard to believe, I know. But she hates cats. Well maybe it's not a fault--I can understand cat hatred. Cats, after all, are trying to take over the planet and we tend to hate that which we fear. Living with cats is like living with cylons, you always feel condescended to.

This week poor Urthalun, who watches almost no TV, sat down to watch a program on snakes (her fave) and it turned out to be a cat show! I told her it was most likely a curse sent by my witch-cat, Haley--she of the dark heart and the dark arts.

- "I don't care for your new associate, La Mahmmy. I will send her a message."

- "As long as you don't leave a severed dog head in her bed."

- "You mistake me for the feline mafia. We dark artists are much more subtle, Mahmmy."

 * This picture is to show you how it's not always my fault that my closet gets messy. (See top right of picture. I used to wonder why my piles of pajamas never stayed upright.)

* This picture is to show you the eventual role humans will play on Planet Cat: A sort of warming plate, with hands for petting. (I was half reclined, trying to use my laptop.)

* Minion so likes her kong toy, I thought she'd like this kong teether cause there's more skinny parts to chew. Classic anthropological mistake, where I went in as the outsider, thinking I understood The Other without actually studying her. She doesn't use the teether at all because she can't hold onto it right. As you can see, she likes the kong because she holds onto the fat part with her feet, and then chews the skinny part. O arrogant hu-mahn that I am!

BOOKS

I don't seem to be making headway through French novels, but am very much in the mood for French graphic novels, so I've switched gears. My review of the second Paul is here, and now I'm reading a gentle love story (Les Années douces) adapted from a Japanese novel. Graphic novels are taken so seriously in the francophone world (France, Belgium, Quebec, etc.) that it's a nice place to poke around if I'm going to practice my French. This Japanese translation, for example, doesn't appear to exist in English. Possibly not the other one I took out either. And, unlike Debbie Travis, I don't judge my literary experience by the sheer # of words.* I'll just end up reading more books in the same period of time, is all. Maybe more, since it's what I'm in the mood for.


WRITING

click on pic for my review of this one

You may also have noticed I keep posting reviews for writing books. I can go years without reading books on the craft, it just depends on what stage I'm at. If I'm at a "sit your ass down and WRITE" stage then I stop reading about writing. Completely. Like a teetotaler. Same with blogs by agents and editors--I only read them when I'm gearing up to submit, and then I stop cold and take a break, otherwise I think it can mess with creativity.

I don't think it's good to have other people's voices about writing in your head all the time. No matter how much I respect the source, I will not listen to writing advice, or submission advice, all year round. For example, I follow Jennifer Crusie's blog all year, but when I'm not in Think About Craft mode I skip her stuff on writing. I just read about her lost purse and her funny dogs.

But I'm about to re-write a book, so it's a good time to immerse myself. Everyone else's voice is allowed inside my head right now, and then it's SOLITUDE TIME. When I'm ready for critiques, then I'll be interested in the voices of people who've read my actual book, but it's unlikely I'll return to the craft books, unless it's for a very specific question. Cause at that point they can make you doubt yourself too much. It's already confusing when you let your readers into Your World, let alone Generic Authors of Writing Books. Writing's a fragile business, yo. A delicate balance between having faith in yourself and your beliefs and your vision, and being open to, and recognizing, valid criticism.

I've read some good, some bad, and some entertaining craft books this month. Today I read the first two chapters of The Forest for the Trees, and so far it's the best one. I'll continue to post my reviews on Goodreads, facebook and here. My latest review is of the Donald Maass one--he's a huuuuuge agent. Click on the picture of the book, should take you to my review.


PRINCE IN SIX DAYS!!!!

Apparently the last time he came to the Jazz Fest a lot of people were all "wtf he's not a jazz musician". So for the first 80 minutes he played a big-ass long set of jazz-funk-fusion with the lights turned down, including a 20 minute solo by his bassist during which one critique surmised he went to have a foot rub. The same critique said "some suckers left during intermission," after which Prince let loose with his hits and knocked everyone off their feet.

The party had jumped instantly into full swing, Prince had not lost his mind, he was still the one and only Sexy Motherfunker, and he had come to do what he does best, and what he does better than pretty much anyone on the planet.
It's nice to see that, with all his success, the stardom, the post-stardom, - amid the arrogance, the eccentricity, the weirdness and the cool - he hasn't lost his sense of humour. [Mtl Gazette]

Prince may be as crazy as Kevin Smith says, but when you see him on stage, he's not that shy, religious kook--he's sooo entertaining from every video I've seen, or live set I've heard. And he's funny. He specifically requested a small venue, and that it be stripped of all but 300 VIP tables. (The club has room for 2000 seats--Swiss Girl and I went there to see an Abba cover band. Did I say this already? I'm so delirious. "IIII get Delirious, when I'm gonna see Priiince...") I assume that if he's turning the club into one big dance floor... there's going to be dance music involved.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm freaking out just a tiny bit.
 And I'm not the freaking out type.

          

How Not to Write a Novel: A Book review, or Save the kitten!

I have a lot to say about writing these days, but my thoughts are a muddle. So I'll start with a summary of a writing book I read.

I took out this one--How Not to Write a Novel by Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmark--because it seemed like something I could pick and choose my way through, but I liked the premise so much, I decided to speed-read the whole thing.*

Oddly enough I didn't realize til now that this was the same book my friend Swissgirl had photographed for me in London years ago cause the cover was funny. The library edition didn't have this great cover.

The premise: Every writing book tells you different, contradictory advice. But if you locked those authors in a room with slowly rising water, and no chance of escape until they reached a consensus, this book would be the result. <--This is the funny. (Except I wrote it more concisely because their writing, though funny, is oddly stilted at times.)

Here's more of the funny: 

In re using your book to blab about Stuff: "The unpublished novelist should remember that his potential readers are people just like the friends and co-workers who didn't want to hear this stuff in person."


In re a setting where 100% of the characters are white and middle to upper class unless it's rural Sweden: "This will eventually give the reader an eerie feeling that some form of ethnic cleansing has taken place."

In re sex scenes: "Giving a reader a sex scene that is only half right is like giving her half a kitten."

In re sex and comedy and postmodernism: "Any of the following crimes against fiction can prevent the publication of your novel. Committing several will prevent the publication of anyone whose name is similar to yours, just in case."

You'll be entertained, even as you're shamed for your literary crimes. Now here are...

The kind of advice they give, not shared in other writing books:

* When every passing mood is lovingly detailed--a play by play of your protagonist's every passing emotion. Romance genre authors do this a lot. I get Le Tired of hearing what people are thinking over and over. Especially as they think about the same problem over and over and over. I'm all: Georgette Heyer never did this to me.

* Excitedly sharing everything you learned while researching. I learned this in high school when I read Lace II. At the time I thought the author was showing off, but Newman & Mittelmark are right it's probably just excitement. My favie Connie Willis does this cause she's a research goddess. (Mind, it didn't stop her from just winning her 7th Nebula. That's 10 Hugos and 7 Nebulas, boys-who-read-sci-fi-but-have-never-tried-Connie-Willis.)

* Characters who laugh disproportionately at each others' jokes. It's best, they advise, to err on the side of caution. So very true. I have a friend who has sworn off one particular author because she can't stand all the snickering that goes on over witticisms that just aren't witty. Mind you, this is hard when you're writing, because sometimes you need to show your characters bonding by laughing at something together. And then you re-read your own scene and you're all: "This sounds lame." Easier in a first person book when you can write "And then we laughed like loons" and your readers can always pass it off as an unreliable narrator.

* Don't sneak in a propaganda pitch for your idée fixe: Daylight savings time is bad, or the tenure system is bad, or root canals are bad, or whatever. Ya this one happens a lot in what passes for entertainment by political radicals. Sometimes you come across a political comic or graphic novel, and you know it's meant to be funny because somebunny radical has written a review saying it's the biting satire, but really it's so unfunny I'd rather go do a little dusting. It's not good satire if you're just coming out and making your point. Don't encourage these people.

Things I could identify with:

* Introducing characters for no good reason, or for one reason only, or as a big family mass, or because you think you need to show that the character has a mother so there's a "Hi dear how are you" phone call scene. <-- I've had to catch and fix varieties of these in my writing.

* Poorly rendered non-native English: My last book has French-speaking and accented characters, so I had to work very hard to find the right way to tackle it.

* Character's thoughts transcribed for no reason, usually taking stock of his life while watching the sunset or cleaning out the closet. lol lol and lol. Because I was writing a sweet romance, which I don't even like, I made myself do things I don't even like, like Too Much Inner Monologue. There are no sunsets, but my heroine does unpack a box. Shiver.

* Poor renderings of other classes: In my case it's rendering Other Ethnicities, because my heroine is half Mohawk and half Nuu-chah-nulth. I see failure as inevitable and something to be humbly accepted her, but I have to aim for the most respectful failure possible.

Points I didn't agree with:

* Their view on animals was basically don't do them, unless the animals are the ones solving the mysteries. So ridick. They're clearly haters. Might as well say don't write toddlers, because they play about the same role in comedy books as animals. Besides writers like Jennifer Crusie and Jilly Cooper who write wonderful animal characters, the Georgia Nicolson series wouldn't be half as funny without the Angus the Cat terrorizing the neighborhood, and Georgia's sister Libby, who dresses up Georgia's Jesus statue and says it's Barbie's cousin Sandra. Just shows you can't take all writing advice books as gospel.

The only person who can wrap Angus around her finger is Libby.

* They had a weird bit about "the protagonist is not allowed to [romantically] settle for less" like the nice neighbor best friend. They followed this up with a better worded point, that the love interest has to be sexually attractive in some way. I would nix their earlier point, but agree with this one. As decreed in the Tao of Steve: Be excellent in her presence. Everyone is sexy once you see them doing something they're good at, whether it's witty insults, canoeing, caring for someone sick, or speed accounting. To go from Best Bud to Hero, he (or she) needs to show excellence at some point. That can be the neighbor or best friend.

Bottom line:

Oh you want to borrow or buy this book. It's a gas and will prevent any authors with similar sounding names as yours' from getting rejected.

Their next book:

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*I didn't understand speed-reading until I became a Poli Sci major at a university where the profs all believed in huge reading lists. (Unusually so, if people from other schools were to be believed.) The only way to survive was to learn how to skim a reading, figure out which parts you really had to read, and which parts you could skim--usually the examples, and anywhere the author repeated him or herself. That's when you learn that most non-fiction books (outside of histories) are 20% argument, 40% examples, and 20% repetition. Really bad ones are 20% examples and 40% repetition. And REALLY bad ones have a big font, are slim, sold in a glossy hard cover, charge $40, are called Business books and promise to make you a millionaire. #1 Lesson From University: Always read the article version of something if it's available, rather than the book form.