Subject: Re: Hello again for the first time
From: Tim O'Connor (tim@roughdraft.org)
Date: Sun Jun 22 1997 - 13:10:59 GMT
>Hello Again
Hello to all, from beautiful soggy Paris, where it feels like the day of
the choir in "For Esme."
>and here is my problem: Does anyone else on the list seem to think that
>Salinger's choice of words or his idiom I think you call it haunt anyone
>else. I write short stories sort of and that' my problem right there I
>seem to use Salinger's voice. I know that I am ripping him off and want
>the feel without using the exact words that he use but they just feel so
>familiar in capturing an innocence.
Finding one's own voice is one of the greatest challenges a new writer must
face. It's not at all uncommon to find that after you immerse yourself in
someone else's written voice, you come away echoing their mannerisms, their
tics, their phrasings, and their rhythms. (In my opinion, Salinger's voice
is especially contagious; consider how many people write "bad Holden
Caulfield" prose. Other writers with such contagious styles are Hemingway
-- also someone who inspires countless bad imitations but whose own early
work is pristine -- and Kurt Vonnegut. Contrast that with someone like
Joan Didion, in her essays, who immerses you in a distinctive style that is
completely transparent and, in some way I can't define, impossible to
imitate. )
If you are serious about pursuing this, work on your phrasing, keep a
journal, (figuratively) slap yourself when you use Salinger mannerisms, and
-- always important -- read other writers.
I'm not a big fan of how-to books; too many I have read on the topic of
writing have been total ripoff jobs. But an older one, On Becoming a
Novelist, by John Gardner, is lovely -- and it's not just about writing
novels. It's really about the craft of writing, and the social aspects of
being a writer in a real world, where you have to earn a living while
learning your trade, where you have to suffer the lack of faith in you by
family and friends because you cannot show results easily, despite your
efforts.
A new one, which is brilliant, is Narrative Design: A Writer's Guide to
Structure, by Madison Smartt Bell. (Another young fellow to keep an eye
on.) This book has been published by W.W. Norton as a *textbook*, which
means you probably have to special-order it. Though it is a difficut book
to acquire, you may want to pursue it; in my opinion it has a lot to
recommend it. The ISBN is 0-393-97123-6. (I have nothing against
textbooks, except that they are almost always impossible to find on
bookstore shelves. I bought six copies of this title directly from Norton,
and distributed them to friends.)
> And don't get me wrong I am no hack
>I have honestly read all of Salinger's prose home movies published and
>unpublished so I am wondering if I am just being neurotic or thinking of
>Salinger too much. Any thoughts.
Kurt Vonnegut once said, in terms of advice about how to proceed, "write
well -- or fail to. All the rest is gossip." Sure, we're all neurotic
about it, if "neurotic" is what you want to call it when you compulsively
feel self-conscious. But work in spite of that, and think of it as craft
-- hard work that is sometimes mechanical and sometimes a process of
learning those basics you may have assumed you mastered already -- and
continue to apply yourself to the task at hand. That's why a journal is
good to keep, as a visual artist keeps a sketchbook. That is why the two
books I mentioned above are excellent to have as sensible guides at your
desk. (I have not yet learned to appreciate John Gardner's *fiction*; on
the other hand I am very fond of Madison Smartt Bell's work. He's another
stylist with a hypnotic, powerful voice who is not easily imitated.)
>Also thanks for having me on the list again.
We're always glad to have someone stray back in!
Cheers and apologies for my own side-to-side straying above; my immersion
in France at the moment feels as if it has seriously broken my English
syntax.
--tim o'connor
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