WRITERS WHO HAVE INFLUENCED MY WRITING

 

MY FIRST SHORT STORY

Several years ago, I wrote my very first short story for a correspondence course in writing I was taking.  I wanted to experiment with my writing style but I didn’t want to risk losing the high marks I’d been getting throughout the course.  Then I decided that if I was going to experiment, what better time to do it than when an expert could tell me whether or not I was successful or not.  So I took the risk to slow down a scene I was writing about a woman who finally accepts the fact that her baby has died.  I wrote about her stops and starts, about how she tries to outrun her anguish by doing something else until she can’t run any more.  She takes her anguish out on the painting has been working on by destroying it, a metaphor for the loss of creation. 

RAYMOND CARVER   

I am pleased to say that my risk paid off.  My teacher said that by slowing down the story into the minutest detail I created suspense.  He then went on to suggest I read the stories of Raymond Carver, who uses this technique in his own writing.  Ever since I have tried to visualize the details of the scene I am writing.  I won’t pretend that I’m always successful because sometimes I just want to get the words down, but this is my goal.   And if I don’t get it right on the first draft, I always have my editor to remind me because when I do slow it down, it’s a better story.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

Just about everyone has heard of Ernest Hemingway.  I must admit that he’s not my favourite writer.  His work is just a bit too masculine for my taste.  But it does reflect his character as a man’s man.  But I have to say that even he had an impact on my writing. 

Once upon a time, I could write sentences that turned into whole paragraphs.  The words were fine, the punctuation was in place so the reader could take a mental breath, but there were not enough periods.  I took note of this and learned to break up my massive paragraphs into groups of shorter sentences in the style of Hemingway.  In doing this I find that the writing is stronger and more concise.

VIRGINIA WOOLF

When I first read Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, I found her style hard to follow.  But I persevered and discovered a new appreciation for her work.  Sometimes you have to give an author a chance in order to get into the rhythm of their style.  Woolf in unafraid to try new things.  I have tried to emulate her and failed.  However, her willingness to experiment with different forms of writing instead of staying with the tried and true is a more important gift from Ms. Woolf.  It’s more important to trust your own voice than follow the crowd.

JOHN STEINBECK

John Steinbeck loved America so much that he traveled the country from one end to the other with his dog Charley in his book Travels withCharley.  It enabled him to write about America with a deeper understanding of the people as well as the country.  Perhaps that’s where I got the idea that I’d like to travel across Canada one summer in a camper van and write about the experience. It would be my first time writing a travel book. The idea really excites me.

I love Canada and my first two novels are set in Canadian locations.  My first novel, River of the Stick Wavers was set at the French River in Northern Ontario.  I had the opportunity to visit over and number of years and fell in love with its wild landscape.  If you have ever seen a painting by Tom Thomson, you will know what the French River looks like.  It is big and wild and can be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.

My second novel, Gift of the Loon is set in Toronto of 1911 and Algonquin Park. I’ve always been enamoured of Algonquin Park, but more so now that I’ve had a chance to hike its many trails and paddle on Canoe Lake where Tom Thomson painted.

GIVE UP READING???

It has been said that when you are writing you should give up reading because it is likely to influence your own style.  If I did that, I’d never read again.  Reading is essential if you want to be a good writer.  Read all kinds of books, pick and choose those things that feel right to you and incorporate them into your own unique style.  So, keep reading while you’re writing your novel. Like artists who build on the work that has come before, writers do the same by utilizing writing styles that have come before. So go ahead and read to your heart’s content.