Political and Business Daily (05 March 2017)

“If you read good books, when you write, good books will come out of you,” says Natalie Goldberg, popular author on how to write books. Importance of reading cannot be overemphasized, especially if you wish to be an author. They say before you consider turning a writer, read, read, read, and then read some more. But read what? And read how?

To the first question the answer is simple: read the best authors. And if you have already decided on what to write then read as many good books in that genre as you can get hold of.

The second question – How to read like an author? – is what we will discuss here. I am assuming you are already conversant with the nuances of good writing, that is, writing dialogues, characterisation, structure, point of the view, researching your subject and such other techniques that the writing courses offer. You have perhaps written the first draft of your novel and your friends and family have told you that you have a bestseller under your arm. Now is the time to look at the works of the master storytellers and verify your work rather that dash off your manuscript to some publisher.

You must have read your favourite author many times over. Never mind, pick up their book once again and read it with a different eye – a writer’s eye. You’ll notice all that you had missed when you had read it for the pleasure of reading. Read the opening lines of the book and visualize how they introduce the main character or the plot that is to unfold in the later pages. Here I would like to demonstrate with an example.

Opening lines of Love Story by Erich Segal: "What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful. And Brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me."

Notice how in a few lines the author has captured the essence of the entire storyline. You would only notice it if you have read the book previously; therefore, reading like an author involves coming back to what you’ve read once and deconstructing it with a critical eye. The beginning is not necessarily a paragraph replete with bombastic words but one that heralds a turn of events that is to come.

‘Without characters there is no story, they should be strong and...’ That’s what your writing courses instructor told you. But what do those authors say who created memorable characters like Don Quixote, Frankenstein and Sherlock Holmes? These characters have become so synonymous with their traits that they are often used to describe such traits, for instance ‘quixotic’ means eccentric or impractical. Often writers are misled to think characterisation means describing the physical appearance. Though it often is the case, many authors have successfully omitted any physical representation, for instance J K Rowling didn’t describe most of her Harry Potter kids except that they were of a certain age.

There is so much more to a character than physical appearance. It is the traits, emotions, experiences, biases within them that make them what they are. Characters that are moulded from the inside are the ones who drive the plot forward. Remember, what we call a character-driven story? It was Quixote, Frankenstein and Sherlock Holmes who drove their stories to end; their authors merely let them do it. The inner qualities of a character are seldom described in a page or two but are shown to blossom over the course of the novel. Ask yourself: Do your characters stand out as such?

Physical descriptions are still important and they need to complement the character’s inner motivations. Here’s a strong character description of the detective in Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon: ‘Samuel Spade's jaw was long and bony, his chin a jutting V under the more flexible V of his mouth. His nostrils curved back to make another, smaller, V. His yellow-grey eyes were horizontal. The V motif was picked up again by thickish brows rising outward from twin creases above a hooked nose, and his pale brown hair grew down--from high flat temples--in a point on his forehead. He looked rather pleasantly like a blond Satan. He said to Effie Perine: "Yes, sweetheart?"’

Visualize a man’s countenance projecting many ‘V’ like features. When you deconstruct this paragraph on your second read, you might get to know the ‘V’ motif stood for ‘Victory at any cost’ Spade’s tough character gives further credence to his physical appearance as one analyses his actions and reactions.

Your creative writing teacher must have told you, ‘Show, don’t tell!’As you read your novel through an author’s eye, go back and forth between pages to understand how scenes are shown. Are they vivid, are they realistic and do they catch some minor detail that may not necessarily be important to the story? How are they paced? It is important to evoke a scene as if it is real; as if the reader is seeing it played before his eyes. A well scripted scene feeds not merely the eyes, but also the other senses of sound, smell and touch. Good authors achieve this by precise use of dialogues, actions and imagery rather than by narrating it in plain words. Here’s an excerpt of a small scene from Ruskin Bond’s story Riding Through the Flames:

The smoke was thicker now, and Romi caught the smell of burning timber. But ahead of him the road was clear. He rode on.

...

Suddenly, from the side of the road, several pheasants rose in the air, and with a whoosh flew low across the path, just in front of the oncoming bicycle. Taken by surprise, Romi fell off.

...

Not only pheasants but smaller birds too were streaming across the road – parrots, jungle crows, owls, magpies – and the air was filled with their cries.

...

He could see the flames now reaching out from behind the trees on his right, and he could hear the crackling of the dry leaves caught fire. The air was hot on his face. Leaves still alight or burning to cinders, floated past.

Notice the words Bond has used to engage the senses. As a reader you might feel singed by the flames. Once you have observed these, you might need to go back to your novel, break your chapters into small scenes and rewrite them as if the scenes are moving forward on your pages like in a movie.

Writing dialogues is another technique you can glean by scrutinizing the writings of great authors. You need to notice how a story moves forward by the use of dialogues, when short and punchy dialogues serve best and where long descriptive ones ought to be used, and where thoughts are presented like dialogues. You’ll pick up a great deal by pausing at each dialogue tag to note what purpose it serves.

Similarly, point of view (POV) is something that can be learned by reading a variety of books. Read The Great Gatsby to see a first person narrative by Nick Carraway who is not the main character, as against Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, where Mark Twain tells the story through the voice of the main character, Huck. Between the first person and third person POVs there are a few variants, which if you read critically, can you discern. There is also a shifting POV, which shifts from that of one character to another as the chapters change. Frankenstein is one such and Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult is another. But what you need to ask yourself, as an aspiring author, is, why that POV was chosen by the author? Would a different POV not have served as well? If you can find the answer through your analysis, you would know which POV would suit your story best.

Authors introduce a host of other complexities like flashbacks, flash forward, foreshadowing, suspense, surprises. By being observant and flipping back the pages, you will be able to catch the tricks and can gradually start using them.

Research makes a story realistic and cannot be replaced with imagination. Authors go to great lengths to observe, to find authentic information and even to experience certain situations personally before they put them into words. Such painstaking work at once endears the story to their readers. Roots by Alex Haley stands out as a shining example in researched fiction; it is quite nearly non-fiction. Tom Clancy’s military-science and espionage novels are so well researched for technical details, you might bet the author has served in the Navy. You will also do well to research your subject thoroughly, if you can’t, then write on a theme of which you have firsthand experience. For example, if you are in the police department, you may be able to write a convincing crime story packed with factual details.

I have no intention to deride what our creative writing instructors taught us. That is theory. When you get down to pen your own novel, much of the craft has to be honed through insightful observation and practice. But let it be said, there is nothing called correct style of writing. Different authors have taken to different approaches and you should try to find what has worked for them. There is no telling the same will work for you. On the contrary, you might end up imitating someone else’s method.

Ultimately, your writing is yours, and you need to develop your own style.

Surendra Nath

28th February 2017