On Becoming a Novelist contains the wisdom accumulated during John Gardner's distinguished twenty-year career as a fiction writer and creative writing teacher. With elegance, humor, and sophistication, Gardner describes the life of a working novelist; warns what needs to be guarded against, both from within the writer and from without; and predicts what the writer can reasonably expect and what, in general, he or she cannot. "For a certain kind of person," Gardner writes, "nothing is more joyful or satisfying than the life of a novelist." But no other vocation, he is quick to add, is so fraught with professional and spiritual difficulties. Whether discussing the supposed value of writer's workshops, explaining the role of the novelist's agent and editor, or railing against the seductive fruits of literary elitism, On Becoming a Novelist is an indispensable, life-affirming handbook for anyone authentically called to the profession.
Picture the poor, young, serious-fiction writer. He toils alone at a pace not so different from that of Lincoln Tunnel traffic at rush hour in New York. His spouse has a "real" job, or perhaps he has a trust fund. His college friends are cashing in on their dot-coms and wondering if he's ever going to join the real world. He is not hell-bent on publication; he is trying to write "serious, honest fiction, the kind of novel that readers will find they enjoy reading more than once, the kind of fiction likely to survive." He's likely to have no idea whether he's succeeding. Nobody understands him.
Well, almost nobody. John Gardner understands him. Gardner's sympathetic On Becoming a Novelist is the novelist's ultimate comfort food--better than macaroni and cheese, better than chocolate. Gardner, a fiction writer himself (Grendel), knows in his bones the desperate questioning of a writer who's not sure he's up to the task. He recognizes the validation that comes with being published, just as he believes that "for a true novel there is generally no substitute for slow, slow baking." Gardner also has strong feelings about what kinds of workshops help (and whom they help), and what kinds hinder. But a full half of Gardner's book is devoted to an exploration of the writer's nature. The storyteller's intelligence, he says, "is composed of several qualities, most of which, in normal people, are signs of either immaturity or incivility." In addition, a writer needs "verbal sensitivity, accuracy of eye," and "an almost demonic compulsiveness." But wait--there's more. A writer needs to be driven, and to be driven, he says insightfully, "a psychological wound is helpful." --Jane Steinberg
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
A lot of common sense, not necessarily what I expected.:
For aspiring writers wanting to get some heavy insight into the steps, practices, discipline and a "how-to" look into becoming a Novelist, you may want to look elsewhere. While "On Becoming a Novelist" is a decent read, I found the content somewhat disengaging making the book, overall, hard pressed to keep my attention.
The One Book Novelists Need to Read:
Gardner's "Becoming a Novelist" is a career advice book for authors who are serious about writing novels. (Short story writers need not apply.) John Gardner was not a man to pull his punches, so expect brutal honesty--especially regarding his dim views of most science-fiction, horror, and other genre writing. While I can't say that I agree with every word that he wrote, "Becoming a Novelist" provides more food for thought for aspiring novelists than a dozen "how-to" writing books. It's short enough to read... more info
Concise, Sympathetic, Sage Advice for the Aspiring Novelist:
I first read On Becoming A Novelist in 1989. I thought a lot of the 145-page book at the time, but then steered clear of trying to write for a living and instead embarked on a fruitful fifteen year career as a self-employed software developer (creative writing of a sort, probably close to a million lines of code altogether, in the language of Visual Basic). As for whether I would have been happier and better off financially if I had eschewed software development for novel writing back in 1989, I will never... more info
Every writer should read this book:
I first read Gardner's "The Art of Fiction" some years ago. It was a fine book with some sound advice. However, it read too much like a how-to book for my tastes. And the how-to advice seemed a bit too formulaic. Though I am sure it is a fine book for instruction, especially for people who are just starting to look at fiction seriously. "On Becoming a Novelist" is a different book all together. It deals more with the philosophy and life of writing. It is simply a joy to read. It does not tell you how... more info
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