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9.
AOTW: New and would-be authors undoubtedly find On Writing a
welcome guide by a respected scribe. All of you, however, have forged
successful careers without the benefit of this book. What works,
if any, helped to guide you when you were beginning to take your
first tentative steps toward making a living by writing? And what
books continue to be of help?
Laurie
Halse Anderson: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Best book ever.
Brad
Meltzer: When it comes to writing I never went for books on
writing. I just went with a kind of trial and error method and probably
wasted a lot of time. One of the few things that I learned from
the process is -- don't let anyone tell you no. I got 24 rejection
letters on my first novel. I got 24 people who told me to give it
up. It doesn't mean they're wrong, it doesn't mean I'm right --
it's a subjective industry and as I was once told, it only takes
one person to say yes. All you have to do is find that one person.
Whatever your dream is, whether it's writing or lawyering or mothering
or even shopping, you just have to chase your dream.
Noreen
Ayres: King's book had me up and writing several times when
I might not have taken to the keyboard. Years earlier, Larry Block's
two books on writing inspired me, and words in occasional publications
from prolific hands like Sue Grafton and Elmore Leonard, as well
as revelations from other collections of writers' remarks. One recent
book on writing I thoroughly enjoyed is Frank Conroy's The Eleventh
Draft. I also like much of Frederick Busch's Letters to a Fiction
Writer. These offerings say we aren't as nuts as we may think we
are, or at the very least we are not alone.
Jonathan
Kellerman: I don't have an easy answer for what got me to where
I am. I've been writing compulsively since the age of nine, tried
my first novel at 19, won a literary prize at 21, didn't publish
my first novel until I was 35. In between were enough rejection
slips to paper my house and 8 unpublished novels. I suppose I just
finally got good enough. Certainly living life more fully and maturing
enough to be able to reveal myself helped. So did approaching writing
as a job rather than a creative lark --- a little inspiration combined
with lots of perspiration. I don't know any consistently successful
novelist who doesn't have a good work ethic. As Bob Parker says,
quoting Larry Block: You don't call up a plumber, only to have him
say he can't come because he has "plumber's block." Work,
work, work. Write, write, write. And don't take yourself too seriously.
Writing is a great job, but in the scheme of things it's pretty
trivial. Any surgeon, dentist, psychologist, police officer, does
more important work every day.
Daniel
Handler: The books that taught me the most about writing are
the books I most admire, and I keep them within arm's reach of my
desk so I can reread them whenever I need to be reminded how they
did it. They include --- but sure aren't limited to --- Vladimir
Nabokov's Lolita and Pnin, Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood, Lorrie
Moore's Anagrams, Virginia Woolf's Between the Acts and Mrs. Dalloway,
Tom Drury's The Black Brook, and Elizabeth Bishop's Complete Poems.
These aren't books about writing, but I find them more instructive
than those sort of books because I'm the sort of person who learns
by example. The scene in Salem's Lot in which the female vampire
scraps her fingernails against the kid's window --- a scene I've
reread probably twelve times--has taught me more about writing than
On Writing.
Lisa
Scottoline: I liked John Gardner's how-to book, one by Jack
Bickham, and also Annie Lamott's Bird by Bird. But I agree with
King that the really, really best thing for a fiction writer to
do is read novels. Read books by people who are doing what you want
to be doing and writing what you want to write. Learn from them.
See what works and what doesn't in their stories. Figure out why
some novels move you, scare you, make you laugh, or keep you turning
pages, and some don't. Write your own how-to book in your own head.
You can call it How To Write My Own Books.
Jeffery
Deaver: Like musicians, writers need to have their basic chops
down. That means grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. I was pleased
to see Stephen King laud The Elements of Style by Strunk and White.
I've used that tiny volume for years, along with The Careful Writer
by Theodore Bernstein. In reality, it doesn't much matter which
book you use to learn the rules of clear writing, but you have to
learn them. When it comes to learning about the structure and subject
of the type of book you want to write, though, my advice is to study
those books that you enjoy and that inspired you to write. Outline
the story, write bios of the characters, underline (or copy) and
memorize passages. Devour these books. And go back regularly and
devour them again.
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