Gareth Powell’s book ‘About Writing’ just appeared, and I chose to listen to the audiobook. Added bonus: the author is narrating it himself, which for me amplified it’s authenticity.
For some reason, I always imagined he would have this wonderful Scottish accent (just because I love hearing it), which would be quite an accomplishment for someone from Bristol. Alas, no. The disappointment, if any, is clearly survivable.
Spending the whole afternoon with Gareth, his thoughts about how to become a writer (while mowing the lawn for the first three hours, spending the rest of the book sunbathing) was one of the better ways to spend half a day. First, there appears to be a common theme to all books about writing and how to become an author, and About Writing is no different: write.
Gareth, however, adds something which resonates with myself: Finish the fucking novel.
Genres and writing
You won’t find any utterly abstract theories about how to structure your story, nor how you should go about doing any research. That’s entirely up to you. What he does talk about are genres, and sometimes sub-genres, and the good idea to familiarise yourself with the genre you want to write in. Re-inventing the wheel over and over again, just because you’re not knowledgable enough, is one of his warnings because it will put off your audience (you should know that one, it’s better to know the rules before you go along breaking them). Another tidbit of wisdom: don’t force yourself into writing when you’re really unable to do any. But, if faced with writer’s block, you can try to write 100 words of something and see if it works. Going for a walk, join other people in a pub, paint the ceiling are other tasks you might find helpful. And keep rewarding yourself if you reach your goals — whatever they are.
It’s just work
Always keep in my mind that writing a novel is hard, and during writing you may reach the point where you can’t relate to your work; you think it is complete garbage, the characters are mediocre at best and the plot is not even worth mentioning. This is another feeling I know all too well, and it is the reason I haven’t finished anything (apart from that screenplay I did 20 years ago). It happens, happened to Gareth often enough. My thoughts on that is that you might worry if it doesn’t happen; you’ve been literally living in your story while also maintaining it, like building a castle while holding the foundation together with the power of your mind. It can get exhausting.
Gareth scoffs on the terminology ‘aspiring writer’. To misquote Yoda:
Write or write not. There is no aspiring.
Leaves no room for ambiguity, does it?
Ideas galore
I especially recommend listening (or reading) the parts about ideas and how to find them. Having him reading 55 ideas he put onto Twitter is just fun. You are free to use of them and may only have to buy him a drink if turned into a novel.
An example, not part of the 55 top ideas, but rather something he came up one morning:
A sentient comet composes Haikus while falling towards the sun.
That’s one story I’d like to read, but there is the next step: working with those ideas. Gareth has a nice analogy for that: The relationship between the initial idea and the final one is akin to the relationship between a wolf and a chihuahua. Inspiration may strike any time, but that’s barely the start of it, my take on that.
The Business
About Writing is about writing, it also gets into the writing business. How to choose an agent, how traditional publishing works. What editors do, and how to cope with critique. There’s quite a lot on those topics, very well delivered, and quite interesting to know. Furthermore, part of the business side of things are: how to write a synopsis, or the elevator pitch. Throughout those chapters, you get a detailed picture on how he’s going about the dreaded business part. His telling appears to be very much hands-on, skipping any ivory tower attitude, and gives you not only his recipes, but the why of them. The latter being outstandingly useful.
Social and other People
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook — that’s where interaction takes place these days. Gareth gets into those, not by telling you how to be a marketing genius. But being approachable, positive, and above all helpful when interacting on those platforms. It’s not only your existing and potential readers who are rummaging around, but also your publishers, editors, and agents. I think I can sum the advice up into the single statement: don’t be an asshole.
Of course, the same goes for any interaction with other people, in his view. I cannot agree more. Attending conventions is another topic, and there he talks about confidence. Rather, how to cope if that’s somehow missing. Funny enough, the advice boils down to you don’t have to actually be confident if you can pretend to be confident (there is a quote from a zen master I’d love to put in there, but I failed to find the book so far. Perhaps later).
Oddities and culture
The first line, sentence, and the empty page. Rather, the focus upon those. That’s something I cannot relate to. I’d have loved to hear something about finishing the damn story. But even if I don’t feel the dread of the empty page, Gareth has some useful techniques to circumvent or avoid those awkward moments for those who do.
I cannot fathom using Word for, well, anything. The last time I used Word was almost 15 years ago, when it crashed and about six hours of frantic writing vanished in an instant. Gareth does mention some applications one might look into, and I have to add, whatever you choose, get something which does automatically saves your stuff every two or three minutes by default. And does versioning as well. You’ll know why when you need it, trust me on that. It’s also not a big topic in the book, so why mention it? I thought it might be helpful.
Now for the culture thing. I was born into the Cold War era, nuclear war was guaranteed. Roughly twenty years after being born, that threat just — vanished. Peace, love, and happiness all around. Up until very recently. During the last couple of years politics are getting more divisive, people seem to prefer simplicity to reality, concentrating on effect not cause, enjoy fiction not facts. Fun fact: I got the impression the author has a mostly similar background, and I enjoy that feeling of having some kind of connection, feeble as it may be. Or it is just horse manure.
Finishing thoughts
If you, dear reader, haven’t gotten the impression that this book is well worth reading, then I have failed. Sorry.
Here’s the truth: if you want unique and personal insights on writing, get that book.