Mentor (Tom Grimes, Tin House Books)
Tom Grimes, Mentor: A Memoir
We all know by now: I love Tin House Books.
Coming out in August 2010 is Tom Grimes' Mentor: A Memoir, exploring his relationship with the long-time director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Frank Conroy, and the ups and downs of the writing life.
Frank Conroy's legendary advice was direct and fierce. All writers can profit from it:
I can't say what happened after I returned the phone to its cradle [after receiving the call from Frank that he'd been accepted at Iowa]. In a creative writing workshop, this is when the famous writer overseeing the conversation (I'll call him Frank) says, "First off, don't be vague. Don't just have the character wander around the apartment, dazed. Give the reader concrete details. You have five senses at your disposal: touch, sight, sound, taste, and hearing. Use them. As in, 'I heard the front door close. The loud crackle of a brown paper grocery bag drifted up the stairwell.' (Is drifted the best verb?) 'My wife was home, and the ceiling fan whirred as I stood in the living room, waiting for her.' We know she's going to walk through the living room doorway moments later, so don't write, 'moments later.' It's redundant and stupid. These characters have cats. Have one cat stroll toward the staircase. Or the other one raise its head from the seat cusion it's lounging on. Don't just have the narrator say -- and why is the author using the first person, anyway? Third would distance the writer from the main character. That way the author doesn't risk self-indulgence. Follow? The charater's life has suddenly -- never use the word suddenly -- the character's life has been altered in a manner he doesn't yet fully comprehend. But, in addition to excitement, the situation requires a touch of gravitas. I'm not saying describe a funeral. Just don't have the main character leap up and yell, 'Yippie!' Above all, avoid melodrama. Understate the narrator's emotional reaction. What the author withholds, the reader supplies. Establish and maintain the story's cocreation; it's essential. Have the character do something he'd normally do. Open a beer. Put the can in a rubber holder so the can doesn't sweat. And if you risk having him recall the shredded pages of Stop-Time as he drops the flip top into the trash, don't linger on it. One sentence. At that point, his wife walks into the kitchen, carrying groceries. It's probably best if she doesn't say anything. And when he speaks, leaving out 'he said' depersonalizes his statement. Remember, the reader knows what's coming. Nothing in the narrator's life will ever be the same. So capture his astonishment in unadorned dialogue. 'Frank Conroy called. I got into Iowa.' End of scene. End of chapter. Any questions?"
No.
Dear readers, follow this advice. It will make you a better writer.
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