I bought a collection of short stories last night by the American writer, James Lee Burke.It was the last of Mr Burke's books, to complete my collection.It's called The Convict and Other Stories.In his Introduction. Jailhouses, English Departments and the Electric Chair, he writes about his own experience as a writer; the rejections, the defiance, the drinking, the teaching and then his inability to learn.James Lee Burke is not only one of the most successful detective crime writers alive today, he's also one of the best living American writers.His powers of description are breathtaking and he can stop you breathing with the emotion of a moment.He stands with John Steinbeck and Kurt Vonnegut Jr as my all time, favourite American authors.I've learned from all three of these writers and many more.One of the first lesson any writer learns, is to become a reader, then, an observer.Sometimes, after reading someone like Burke, I'd begin to think there was nothing I could write about to match someone like him.Louisiana, Texas and Montana - his favoured locations - just seemed to have that much more going for them.John Steinbeck wrote about hobos and the dust trail from the Texas panhandle to the Californian fruit fields, migrant workers and underground agitators.Kurt Vonnegut wrote about soldiers and aliens.Desperation set in if I thought about my own paltry settings.Then I realized I wasn't looking at things from the right angle.I could say James Joyce taught me that, but I won't.I've read big chunks of Ulysses and the short story collection, Dubliners.But it took me four weeks to get through 15 pages of Ulysses on my first attempt.Brendan Behan and Sean O'Casey taught me a valuable lesson.Stories are not just on your doorstep; they're in your head.You have to get them out.I've got more pleasure out of reading John McGahern, William Trevor, Sebastien Barry and Joe O'Connor.These are writers who understand scene and setting.Roddy Doyle has the same talent.Reading can satisfy writers, but it also makes them restless.Restless, to get their own words and thoughts down in print.And that makes the difference between a reader and a writer.Every reader will entertain the thought of being better and more able than a writer, to capture the moment of their lives that encapsulates their thought processes and sums up their existence.It is the writer who writes it.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The Whys and Wherefores of Writing
I bought a collection of short stories last night by the American writer, James Lee Burke.It was the last of Mr Burke's books, to complete my collection.It's called The Convict and Other Stories.In his Introduction. Jailhouses, English Departments and the Electric Chair, he writes about his own experience as a writer; the rejections, the defiance, the drinking, the teaching and then his inability to learn.James Lee Burke is not only one of the most successful detective crime writers alive today, he's also one of the best living American writers.His powers of description are breathtaking and he can stop you breathing with the emotion of a moment.He stands with John Steinbeck and Kurt Vonnegut Jr as my all time, favourite American authors.I've learned from all three of these writers and many more.One of the first lesson any writer learns, is to become a reader, then, an observer.Sometimes, after reading someone like Burke, I'd begin to think there was nothing I could write about to match someone like him.Louisiana, Texas and Montana - his favoured locations - just seemed to have that much more going for them.John Steinbeck wrote about hobos and the dust trail from the Texas panhandle to the Californian fruit fields, migrant workers and underground agitators.Kurt Vonnegut wrote about soldiers and aliens.Desperation set in if I thought about my own paltry settings.Then I realized I wasn't looking at things from the right angle.I could say James Joyce taught me that, but I won't.I've read big chunks of Ulysses and the short story collection, Dubliners.But it took me four weeks to get through 15 pages of Ulysses on my first attempt.Brendan Behan and Sean O'Casey taught me a valuable lesson.Stories are not just on your doorstep; they're in your head.You have to get them out.I've got more pleasure out of reading John McGahern, William Trevor, Sebastien Barry and Joe O'Connor.These are writers who understand scene and setting.Roddy Doyle has the same talent.Reading can satisfy writers, but it also makes them restless.Restless, to get their own words and thoughts down in print.And that makes the difference between a reader and a writer.Every reader will entertain the thought of being better and more able than a writer, to capture the moment of their lives that encapsulates their thought processes and sums up their existence.It is the writer who writes it.
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