As part of my Master's course, I recently read three extracts from published authors in which they talked about reading as a writer...or writing as a reader. Find references to the three articles below...
I found all three pieces very interesting; my own philosophy as a primary school teacher has been learn to read, then read to learn, so Prose’s piece rang quite true to me, although she takes it a step further when talking about reading to become a better writer. Prose seems to think of it on a very literal level: by reading, you are becoming more familiar with how the structure of language works – the more ‘secretarial’ side of writing, although she does refer to the way that sentences and words are chosen which is taking the learning to a more creative level, to authorial intent.
I agree with what she says here, reading can stimulate and inspire you to write but it doesn’t limit you (e.g. when she explains the first novel she wrote was very different from the works that she had been reading); in the last module, I surprised myself with what I wrote. I had clearly pigeonholed myself inaccurately and most of the pieces I produced – both for activities and for assignments – were very different to what I choose to read, and quite different in style from some of my favourite authors. Although, given my favourite authors include King, Pratchett and Aaronovitch, I don’t expect to be able to write in their style and I find the humour the latter two produce to be quite out of my reach as a writer.
I do differ to Prose on one point of her experience; she describes her students as feeling ‘stupid’ when reading the ‘great’ authors, and that she herself reads those literary greats to try and osmose some of their influence, I don’t often approach the classics. That is not to say I haven’t (and don’t) read classic authors, but I have to make careful choices over what I read, given my currently full timetable, and as such, I usually choose reading as an escape from work and the world in general. Who doesn’t at the moment? I don’t feel bad about this in part because I never aspire to be a literary ‘great’, I write to share the stories that are within me, and I hope that others will get the same enjoyment out of reading them as I get out of dreaming them up (assuming I am able to share them with the wider world 😊 ).
I like her comment that writing is different, not poorer, than other writing and I also agree that in the writing of others, you can find solutions to your own obstacles.
What most struck me about the Morrison article was her comparison between reading and writing – I agree with her comment that reading and writing both require a similar range of skills and approaches; similar mindfulness and awareness. It is a point of my own privilege that I need to be reminded of the racial ‘superiority’ which is inherent even in the language that we use; I can’t imagine what it must be like to struggle to find reading which doesn’t reinforce those dismissive messages. I don’t know if I interpreted her piece correctly, but it seemed to me that she was saying that – for her – reading is about finding those ‘hidden signs of superiority’ and making sure that her own writing doesn’t reproduce these. I will be looking up ‘Recicatif’ I think; it sounds like it was a challenging experiment! In this, the relationship between reading and writing that she discusses is perhaps about reading in a mindful way, and then writing in the same way – thinking carefully about the way we write not only to create beautiful and engaging pieces of work, but also to ensure that we do not continue the dismissiveness and marginalisation of the different cultures that surround us.
I thought that Dillard’s analysis of the relationship between reading and writing seemed to take Prose’s views to the next tier: it seemed like she was saying that reading does not just familiarise you with the rules and structures of writing, but that it does shape you as a writer (is this in contradiction to Prose’s thoughts and her experience after reading Proust? I am not sure if it is entirely) – her suggestion that not only does the writer learn the tools by reading, but she allows the tools of writing to shape her. I think this is similar to Prose’s desire to osmose the literary greats she read. I really enjoyed Dillard’s view that, as writers, we write what we would want to see on the page; that we write to realise the desires that we have to find something that we haven’t already found somewhere. I think there is some truth to this – even when we are inspired by a piece of work or another author, we don’t aim to replicate what they have done, we aim to create our own work. I think there is truth in her assertion that we read to seek beauty, and I infer that her point was that writers have a responsibility to create that beauty. To create the drama and the beauty that is removed from the commercialism of the media. I feel like the last paragraph in that extract was moving away from the comparison of reading and writing and more into a modern / social commentary.
So to summarise; all three make different connections between reading and writing, although some overlap or develop the ideas others have. I think I found Prose the most compelling, though I agreed with a lot of what Dillard had to say.
References:
Francine Prose
Reading Like a Writer
Source: Prose, F. (2012) Reading Like a Writer, London, Aurum, pp. 2–4, 8–10, 12.
Toni Morrison
Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination
Source: Morrison, T. (1992) Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination, Cambridge, MA, and London, Harvard University Press, Preface v–xiii.
Annie Dillard
The Writing Life
Source: Dillard, A. (1990) The Writing Life, London, Pan Books Ltd, pp. 67–74.