Writing Advice I Found Useful

Top of the charts, the most valuable piece of advice I ever received came from KW Jeter. He lived in Portland at one point, and even though he didn’t especially enjoy being bugged by the obnoxious kids with pens (we did bug him, and we were mighty obnoxious), he always carved out a little time for us. He read a few of my short stories when I was ready, and on the pages of one of them he circled a paragraph and wrote ‘air duct’ in the margin. Blue ballpoint, I’ll never forget. My feckless protagonist had just found an easy way out of an impossible situation, but there was no air duct involved. I asked him what he meant and his stern reply will be etched in my mind forever. “This is not a Bruce Willis movie, Jeff. This is literature.”

Next up, cool guy Robert Sawyer. I took a workshop of his in Toronto. It was through the main library, and the deal was that you mailed your short story and he would check it out and give you critical feedback. Great guy it turns out, though as I waited my turn I was increasingly apprehensive. I sat in the lobby listening to him tear another proto writer a new asshole and I thought, shit, the story I sent is about tamales. I am so, so fucked. The other writer staggered out and I went in. Sawyer looked at me and then held up my printed story. He ripped off the first two pages and threw them away. Then he smiled. “Start with the most interesting passage. That often means throwing out your first few pages, even though they’re the ones you spent the most time polishing.” That story went on to be published, one of my early ones. The Tamale God, in On Spec.

Robert Sheckley. What a great guy. He lived in Portland for a few years and had a friendly relationship with any young writer who approached him. I was in a bookstore recently (I won’t be back to that one) and I picked up a copy of one of his books. The owner smiled slyly and then simpered on about how this kind and generous man had made and lost fortunes, how he’d had great ups and low, low downs, intimating that she was privy to many dark secrets. That pitiful bookstore also sells yarn. What a small human. Sheckley had so many glorious things to share, but at the top of the list was something this sour mouth gossip might learn from- “Have an interesting life. It’s makes creating interesting things much easier.”

I had the excellent good fortune to run into Kim Stanley Robinson at the World Fantasy Convention in San Jose. I turned around and there he was, standing right behind me! Unbelievable! One of my all time favorite writers. We chatted, or more accurately I gushed, and after a few minutes we moved on to science and books and a great deal more. He didn’t really hold with genre constraints, it seemed. He had a great many ideas. What struck me most was his optimism. The take away from that conversation dovetailed perfectly with Sheckley’s advice. Explore ideas widely, and the looking itself will change you for the better if you let it. What good news! I read Phys.org every morning to catch up on the science news and I can’t help but feel hopeful when I do.

John Irving. I had dinner with him and I was amazed on many levels. What a guy. A great writer obviously, but a great storyteller as well. He has this way about him. Youthful, it seemed, but in reality it was his incredible stamina. As I sat across from him I realized that this was a man who had no retirement plans. Not when it comes to the things that matter. Keep going was his message.

There’s much more of course, but those are the pieces of advice I’ve been thinking about most recently. Read broadly, outside of your comfort zone. All of them said that. Feed your passions healthy food. We all know the difference. Magnificent that all that great writerly advice applies to life itself. Check out greatpinkskeleton.com for updates as we close out a fantastic year. My favorite books by each of these great writers (and buy a NEW copy if you can)-

KW Jeter- Noir

Noir is a great book. So, so strange. Haunting. Dr. Adder, you have to read that book to understand the impact Jeter had and continues to have on the genre. Pretty much all of his stuff is a great buy at the bookstore, so stock up for the holidays. Jeter is one of the three protégés, or cosmic offspring, of Philip K Dick. Tim Powers is another. I liked his book Declare, and Last Call was a rippin’ read. The third Kosmonaut is James P Blaylock. The Last Coin is so damn good. So is The Rainy Season. Blaylock is a very gifted man, and he’s getting even better. But in my mind, Jeter is the closest to Dick in style and vision. If you enjoyed Philip K Dick, give Jeter a try if you haven’t already.

Robert Sawyer- End Of An Era

Science fiction is a tad pompous on occasion, and Sawyer is what he is. This book is where he rocks out with his eyes closed. Astonishing, but it appears that the great Robert Sawyer has left the field. Publishers squeezed him too hard for too long and he finally told them to fuck themselves and went to work for Hollywood. I bet he’s only the first to go, too. Shine on you crazy diamond.

Robert Sheckley- Soma Blues

I love this novel. This is the third book in the Alternative Detective series. Hob, the protagonist, is clearly Bob. The pacing is unique, with some chapters weighing in at a single page, but it’s the reflective moments that steal the afternoon. Also, Nigel and Jean Claude, two of the best characters in the three books, really rise to the occasion. Their dialogue, their thoughts, all superbly realized. Sheckley lived in Ibiza for years, and in Soma Blues you can feel his love of the place.

Kim Stanley Robinson- Escape From Kathmandu

This is a short story collection! I love all of Robinson’s work. The Science In The Capital books are so good, so educational, so beautifully crafted, that they merit a second and third look. The Years Of Rice And Salt is a masterpiece. The Mars books, incredible one and all. Loved them. Shaman. If I ever get lost in the woods and I survive, it will be because I read that book twice. But there is a special magic in the Kathmandu stories. In the movie Box of Moonlight, people are presented with aspects of themselves in the very different Bucky and Al Fountain. In the Kathmandu stories, you are presented with the best parts of yourself in the very different Fred and Freds. Jung would have freaked out like a motherfucker. Check ‘em out and you’ll see what I mean.

John Irving- Cider House Rules

I love so many of Irving’s books. Garp, Owen, great characters, great stories, superb craftsmanship. Irving won the Academy Award for his screenplay adaptation of Cider House Rules. Impressive in the extreme. Garrison Keillor is a great storyteller. A friend of mine, the late Utah Phillips (himself a fantastic storyteller), was on his show more than once and said that when he did the Lake Wobegon segment, Keillor walked through the audience with a wireless mic and a single flashcard. The audience was so mesmerized that you couldn’t even hear them for long minutes at a time, and the story itself unfolded with five or six small notes Keillor had written on the card. Irving is a storyteller like that. Go to one of his readings if you get a chance.