writingforyourlife

I recently finished The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards, a favourite amongst book clubs.

In the 60’s, a doctor is forced to deliver his own twins during a snowstorm.  His wife is unaware that one of the twins is born with Down’s Syndrome. The doctor tells his wife the child died, and convinces his nurse to take the child to an institution.  Instead, the nurse keeps the child and raises her as her own.

While I really enjoyed this book’s premise and plot, I thought the quality of writing was mixed.  It started strong and faded near the end.  It’s a classic choice from which to draw writing dos and don’ts.

• Do create a fascinating premise: One healthy baby, one with Down’s Syndrome, separated by 1960’s intolerance and a thrilling family secret.  
• Do create suspense:  When will the mother discover her daughter didn’t die, but was hidden from her for over 20 years?
• Do hook your reader:  Chapter one features strong writing and the premise is set quickly.
• Don’t tell… Show! :  The story covers such a long period of time, Edwards often resorts to carelessly inserting major plot events by simply saying they happened rather than showing them.
• Don’t write sloppy endings:  There is so much build up to the climax, the ending is sweet but feels rather thrown together.
• Don’t exhaust your reader:  Character development is one thing, but piling on inconsequential details can get old, fast.  Be selective.

Please don’t let my criticisms stop you from reading The Memory Keeper’s Daughter .  A writer must look at reading selections from a critical perspective in order to learn from them!

It’s worth a read, and I do recommend it to anyone who enjoys mainstream literature.

My last post highlighted several writing tips gleaned from Louisa May Alcott’s classic tale, Little Women .

The writing elements I noted as exemplary were:

• Use of dialogue to build characterization
• Effective use of narrative
• Appropriate language for intended audience
• A great ending

Today, I’d like to share one writing ‘don’t’ from Little Women .  This does not imply the author fails in this area. Rather, writing is necessarily different today.

My writing don’t is:

Don’t try to teach your readers a lesson (at least not in a painfully obvious manner).

Many of the story’s episodes serve to teach characters obvious lessons.  Meg learns not to be taken up with her appearance;  Jo is taught to be more patient with her sisters; Beth overcomes her painful shyness; Amy learns to swallow her pride when she is caught smuggling a banned treat into school.

These morals work in Alcott’s era when times were simpler, which is why we enjoy reading this type of literature. However, we can’t get away with the same type of writing today.  Children’s book editors especially hate anything that seems preachy.

While most books have an overall moral, it must be delicately woven through a story instead of immediately obvious to the reader.

I’m currently reading a childhood classic for the first time:  Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.

I grew up watching the 1949 film,  starring June Allyson and Elizabeth Taylor, which was fantastic.  The 1994 version, with Winona Ryder and Christian Bale, was excellent too.

Because I’ve seen the films, there won’t be any surprises reading this novel.  However, as with most books, there are many writing lessons we can learn from its author.

First, Alcott adeptly creates interaction between characters through dialogue.  Though not much happens in terms of ‘action’ (sadly, there are no ninjas in this book), the reader is always aware of a life-like family dynamic.

Second, the narrative creates intimacy between the reader and each character.  We get to see the story evolve from many perspectives, each unique in its understanding of unfolding events.

Third, the simplicity of Alcott’s language matches the simplicity of the story.  This is meant to be a children’s book, and the language works perfectly.

Fourth, Alcott refrains from writing a saccharin-sweet ending.  She makes use of the adage, “Give the reader what they want, but not in the way they want it.” Yes, the ending is happy, but if we had our choice, would we not choose a different outcome?  It’s genius because it’s real: in life, we don’t always get the perfect ending, but we may get a happy one.

If you haven’t read Little Women , I highly recommend it, from both a reader’s and a writer’s perspective.

Yesterday I watched the film adaptation of Ian McEwan’s Atonement after reviewing the book last week (click here to read Post 1 , Post 2 ).

The movie, starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, got rave reviews and Oscar nods, but I thought it was just okay.  I wonder if I spoiled it for myself by reading the book first.  However, I highly suggest you do the same, because the storyline is carried much more effectively in the written form.  The film felt rushed.

My husband said he was confused by the tendency to skip around between time and place.  He had no idea what was going on throughout most of the film, or even how some of the characters were related.

The book does skip around a great deal, but this strategy works well in literature because it builds suspense.  I didn’t think it worked well in the movie.   Also, there wasn’t the opportunity for the degree of character development necessary to the book.

I liked some thoughtful details about the film, and the acting was quite good.  The cinematography was, perhaps, the most redeeming quality in my opinion.

Overall, I think the film adaptation of Atonement can never live up to the novel because there simply isn’t time to develop the characterization and relationships that become a source of tension in the book.

Some stories cannot be cut and pasted into a comfortable two-hour sitting.  I believe Atonement is one of those.

Read the book first.  Please!

Last week I started reading Ian McEwan’s Atonement.

I posted my thoughts on this beautifully written book part way through, and promised to do so again when I finished (click here to view previous post).

Admittedly, Atonement begins slowly;  however, one-third into the novel, the reader is sucked into a whirlwind of suspense.  During this time, I was unable to put down the book.

The second half of the story differed very much from what I expected.  I can’t say I enjoyed the subject matter as much as the first half, but that’s personal preference.   By contrast, many readers would prefer the second half to the first.

The ending was effective and unexpected.  However, I may have ruined it for myself by concocting my own theories on how it would turn out (and some of my theoretical endings were more exciting).

There is absolutely no doubt that McEwan has written a magnificent piece of literature that will stand the test of time.  If you decide to try Atonement for yourself, I recommend you persevere to the end.

It’s well worth the read.