Story Engineering

I'm working on a novel right now and found myself at a place where I felt stuck. I went to the library and came home armed with books on writing, but the first I picked up--one which was immensely helpful--was Story Engineering: Mastering the 6 Core Competencies of Successful Writing by Larry Brooks.

As someone who writes organically and appreciates the virtues of beautiful prose, I'll admit this book was frustrating to read at times as Brooks advocates for writers to outline and he places higher value on plot than prose. He also gives many examples throughout the book, but tends to use the high drama plots of blockbuster thrillers when I was hungry to hear how that would translate more subtly in a literary novel. Because the thing he did express was that even character driven novels (which I love to both read and write) still need to be engineered, which I did not truly believe until after reading this book. I did walk away from this book loaded with great information about how better to construct a plot and tell a story, so I would recommend it to anyone looking to write novels or screenplays.

The Night Circus

I was in search for a good compelling story that was well written and did a Google search to help find something. On a list of well loved contemporary novels was Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, so I decided to check it out. It is a book about a magical circus and a competition that two circus masters arrange. The arrangement is bound and the stakes are high--Celia is the daughter of one of the circus masters. The other finds a boy named Marco and later on the two fall desperately in love, only to find what the competition actually entails.

I had Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer fresh in my mind, so I found myself criticizing much of the writing. I felt like Morgenstern spent more time describing this circus and its circumstances than digging deep into character development, which is a big thing for me and determines how I'll receive a novel. The plot was indeed compelling, but I thought a lot of times the language and huge amounts of description got in the way. I also didn't like how much Morgenstern relied on the short choppy paragraph technique. But again, I read it with a critical eye.

I hesitate to share my hang-ups with the novel, simply because I know I came to it after reading a book on how to read critically. From what I read prior to picking up the novel was that this novel is enormously popular and well liked, so I hate to have my negativity stand in the way of someone picking up a book she/he might love. That said, I wasn't terribly fond of the book. (Yet did finish it, which says something, right?)

Reading Like a Writer

I stumbled upon Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and For Those Who Want to Write Them, a book that I'm very glad I found. Obviously I swallow books whole, devouring them with a hunger to meet new characters, new ideas, to learn new things. I read the way I do because I want to learn everything I can about plot and structure so that I can someday craft a novel that can have an impact on someone the way that so many novels have touched me, changed me. But do I read them slow and careful? No, not usually. Yet reading slowly is exactly what Francine Prose prescribes for writers to do. 

I am not a fast reader. I know from the sheer volume of books I read, some might have that impression, but it's not true. It's simply that I have such an addiction to the written word that it is almost a sickness--I read anywhere from 3-7 books at any given time and spread the books throughout my house, taking drinks from one book in the morning and another while I brush my teeth. When my grandmother was suffering from Alzheimer's, I remember someone saying how far her mind had gone because she started keeping books in different rooms and moving from one room to the next to read a page here, then to the next room for a chapter from this other book. I never thought that sounded like a mind deteriorating, but rather an inspiration, almost a sign of heightened intelligence and several years later found myself doing the same thing.

The virtue of a slow, careful read was a nice reminder to me. There are books that are faster to read than others; some books force the reader to slow down and take it all in. And Prose reminded me of the necessity of a writer reading more of the latter books, which I often tend to take in only sparingly. The book also talked about different aspects of novels--characters, plot, structure, voice--and gave examples that highlighted each. I walked away from this book feeling like I had become both a better writer and reader and highly recommend it to anyone who loves to do either.

Who Walks Among the Trees With Charity

Last month I had the honor of being invited to read my work with other local women writers at a literary event. It was a group of tremendously talented women, including the poet Christine Swanberg. She had her books available for purchase, but I wasn't in the position to buy anything that day. She read a poem from her 2005 book, Who Walks Among the Trees With Charity, called "Summer Solstice." I loved the poem (along with everything she read) and wanted to read one of her books, so I checked the library and found Who Walks Among the Trees With Charity. I haven't read a collection of poems in quite a while, perhaps an embarrassingly long time for a writer. I forgot how nice it is to dip into poems, to not rip through a book but to nibble on a bit and wait, to let it digest and get under your skin. And Swanberg has huge talent. Her poems are largely narrative, which I love and find much more accessible. She skillfully twists and weaves words and metaphors in a way that I felt helped me with my writing. A while back, I wrote about Julia Alvarez's book Something to Declare, in which she talks about how she'll read poetry prior to writing prose. I thought it sounded interesting, but I often tell myself that I don't really care for poetry. Christine Swanberg reminded me that my assertion is false and showed me the virtue of a well-written poem.

The Newlyweds

A couple months ago I read Nell Freudenberger's novel The Dissident and enjoyed it, so was eager to read her new novel, The Newlyweds. It is a delightful novel about Amina, a young woman from Bangladesh, who meets George (an American) on the Internet and the two get married. The couple must overcome secrets, cultural barriers, and a bad economy. There's not much more to say about the book's plot, without going into details that would be best unwoven by the reader.

The story is told from Amina's perspective and she is such a rich character. You really get into her world and feel for her, almost to the point that she doesn't seem like a fictional character anymore, but a friend. I could have read this book much faster than I did, but found myself wanting to stay in it so I dragged it out as long as I could. (I love books that make me feel this way; they're so rare.) It is incredible to me to see the growth of Freudenberger as a writer from her first novel to this second one. The Dissident was good, but The Newlyweds was stunning and beautiful, a book I'll likely be rereading eventually.

Crank

In my search for looking for good YA novels for Alan's classroom next year, I found a list of books that are popular with seventh and eighth graders. One of the titles was Ellen Hopkins' Crank. I glanced at what it was about--a teen girl on crystal meth. I wasn't sure if the novel would be something that would work for his classroom, but I know that Alan is interested in hearing stories about struggles with addiction, so I placed the book on hold. When it came in, I saw that the book was written entirely in a series of poems, which made me more interested in reading the book myself (though it seemed less appealing to Alan).

It was a quick read and an interesting format. I've seen other novels written with poetry rather than prose and I do enjoy the reading experience, though it can also leave something to be desired--particularly in terms of character development. Some of the things that happen in this book can seem hard to believe simply because you don't know the characters well enough to know if they would actually do these things. Overall I did enjoy the book and found it interesting that it is the first in a trilogy. I plan on eventually picking up the sequel, but am not rushing out to read it.

The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God

I've been a book club slacker and haven't made it to the last couple meetings. I try to read the books anyway, even if I can't make it to the meetings, but that doesn't always happen. The latest pick, which I'm still not sure if I'll be able to make it for, was Etgar Keret's The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God and Other Stories.

With the exception of the last piece, the stories are all very short and some are much better than others. (I probably liked "Jetlag" and "Good Intentions" the best and I wasn't wild about the longer piece, "Kneller's Happy Campers" about an afterlife for people who committed suicide.) I think there can be a nice punch packed in a short, short story, but as a whole, I think that very short stories (2-4 pages) are extremely limiting and not conducive to much depth of any kind. The cover calls them "warped and wonderful" short stories. I probably wouldn't have used the word "warped" to describe them, but also can't argue with it. It's a short book (130 pages) with a lot of blank pages, so it's a quick read. The book states that Keret is "undoubtedly the most popular writer among Israeli youth" and I can understand the large draw to his work by a younger generation as it's witty and a bit dark, interesting and creative.

Domestic Violets

A couple months ago a member of my book club was tossing around ideas for her pick, giving us a list of titles she was interested in reading. One of the books that she mentioned (but ultimately didn't pick) was Matthew Norman's Domestic Violets. I read a quick synopsis and thought it sounded like something that I'd like, but it wasn't until I came across it at the library that I decided to read it. Usually the description on the back of a book is a good indicator of what to expect, but I didn't think this was the case for Domestic Violets.

The novel is about a man named Tom Violet who finds himself at a tipping point. His marriage is troubled, he hates his job, and his strong attraction to his coworker appears to be mutual. Tom has spent years writing a novel and is full of anxiety on whether it is any good; the pressure being high as his father is a very famous writer who over the course of the novel wins the Pulitizer Prize. Besides the inept description of the plot, the back of the book also sums it up as a "brilliant and beguiling story of a man finally taking control of his own happiness--even if it means making a complete idiot of himself along the way." I disagree as I don't see him as much trying to take control of his life at all costs, but rather him fumbling his way towards realizing who he is and what he wants. Regardless it is an entertaining book that's fast and easy to read. Books like this are my ultimate guilty pleasure; I really enjoy books with humor and heart that focus largely on relationships and/or search for self. The writing is nothing grand, but is not bad either. It's a light read, which are good books for the summer.