I have been spending time with Curtis Sittenfeld's American Wife, a novel that takes the biography of Laura Bush as its inspiration. This controversial premise strikes me as kind of random or exploitative, or both... but so far, I think she makes it work. The experiment has me thinking about the separation between subject and craft. And how we obsess too much about finding our great Subject. In other words, I would read a novel about Nascar if Sittenfeld was writing it.
Here's some passages from a cheesy interview that I keep thinking about:
When I was a sophomore in high school, my English class read Monkeys, the story collection by Susan Minot about a big New England family. It came as a revelation to me that you could write a completely powerful, engaging book about the dynamics among parents and kids living together in a house -- it wasn't necessary to write about, say, war or mountain climbing or other explicitly, externally dramatic events. Reading Monkeys made me comfortable focusing on writing about what came naturally to me: the daily lives of fairly ordinary people.
... good news for us suburban kids. Funny that she's now envisioning the humdrum existence of a fairly extraordinary subject.
What tips or advice do you have for writers still looking to be discovered?
Be hard on yourself, and look at what's actually on the page as opposed to what you wish were there. Also, write sincerely, which doesn't have to mean autobiographically -- just don't try to be cute or clever. Write about topics that genuinely interest you so the reader can feel your own engagement in the material.
I guess this is a piece of advice that I needed to read. There's an unhealthy self consciousness or cynicism that holds me back in all kinds of creative pursuits. She's like, fall in love with the subject, whatever it is. Go there, and don't look back.
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