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Writing Life: Celebrated Canadian and International Authors on Writing and Life
Since they were first published in the mid-1990s, PEN Canada’s two previous fundraising anthologies, the widely acclaimed Writing Away and Writing Home , have raised $200,000 in support of PEN’s vital work on behalf of free speech and writers in prison around the world. Now Writing Life , promises to be the most successful volume yet.
In Writing Life , fifty celebrated authors reveal surprising truths about what it means to be a writer, and about the sparks that can result when writing and life intersect — and sometimes collide. Provocative, candid, often very funny, personal, and passionately engaged, this inspired collection will take readers deep into the heart of the writing life.
Margaret Atwood revisits how she came to write five of her novels; Russell Banks reveals why he doesn’t do research; John Berger and Michael Ondaatje discuss gate-crashing characters and the magical instant when a work begins; Joseph Boyden takes time out from promoting his first novel to go moose-hunting; Margaret Drabble considers the “wickedness” of stealing material from real life; Howard Engel describes the stroke that took away his ability to read, and where that left him as a writer; Yann Martel reflects on the impossible, necessary challenge of writing about the Holocaust; Lisa Moore shows how crucial the mess and vitality of family life are to her writing; Alice Munro shares why she might “give up” writing; Rosemary Sullivan negotiates the risks and responsibilities that come with telling the story of a life; Susan Swan wrestles with historical fact, fiction, and Casanova.
Proceeds from this volume will go to PEN Canada in support of its vital work on behalf of writers in prison around the world and in defence of freedom of expression both in Canada and abroad.
Writing Life Contributors List
André Alexis
Margaret Atwood
Russell Banks
David Bergen
John Berger
George Bowering
Marilyn Bowering
Joseph Boyden
Di Brandt
Barry Callaghan
Lynn Coady
Susan Coyne
Michael Crummey
Margaret Drabble
Bernice Eisenstein
Howard Engel
Damon Galgut
Jonathan Garfinkel
Greg Gatenby
Camilla Gibb
Charlotte Gray
Elizabeth Hay
Michael Helm
Sheila Heti
Annabel Lyon
David Macfarlane
Alistair MacLeod
Margaret MacMillan
Alberto Manguel
Yann Martel
Anne Michaels
Rohinton Mistry
Lisa Moore
Shani Mootoo
Alice Munro
Susan Musgrave
Michael Ondaatje
Anna Porter
Eden Robinson
Marilynne Robinson
Peter Robinson
John Ralston Saul
Shyam Selvadurai
Russell Smith
Rosemary Sullivan
Susan Swan
Madeleine Thien
Jane Urquhart
Michael Winter
Patricia Young
In Writing Life , fifty celebrated authors reveal surprising truths about what it means to be a writer, and about the sparks that can result when writing and life intersect — and sometimes collide. Provocative, candid, often very funny, personal, and passionately engaged, this inspired collection will take readers deep into the heart of the writing life.
Margaret Atwood revisits how she came to write five of her novels; Russell Banks reveals why he doesn’t do research; John Berger and Michael Ondaatje discuss gate-crashing characters and the magical instant when a work begins; Joseph Boyden takes time out from promoting his first novel to go moose-hunting; Margaret Drabble considers the “wickedness” of stealing material from real life; Howard Engel describes the stroke that took away his ability to read, and where that left him as a writer; Yann Martel reflects on the impossible, necessary challenge of writing about the Holocaust; Lisa Moore shows how crucial the mess and vitality of family life are to her writing; Alice Munro shares why she might “give up” writing; Rosemary Sullivan negotiates the risks and responsibilities that come with telling the story of a life; Susan Swan wrestles with historical fact, fiction, and Casanova.
Proceeds from this volume will go to PEN Canada in support of its vital work on behalf of writers in prison around the world and in defence of freedom of expression both in Canada and abroad.
Writing Life Contributors List
André Alexis
Margaret Atwood
Russell Banks
David Bergen
John Berger
George Bowering
Marilyn Bowering
Joseph Boyden
Di Brandt
Barry Callaghan
Lynn Coady
Susan Coyne
Michael Crummey
Margaret Drabble
Bernice Eisenstein
Howard Engel
Damon Galgut
Jonathan Garfinkel
Greg Gatenby
Camilla Gibb
Charlotte Gray
Elizabeth Hay
Michael Helm
Sheila Heti
Annabel Lyon
David Macfarlane
Alistair MacLeod
Margaret MacMillan
Alberto Manguel
Yann Martel
Anne Michaels
Rohinton Mistry
Lisa Moore
Shani Mootoo
Alice Munro
Susan Musgrave
Michael Ondaatje
Anna Porter
Eden Robinson
Marilynne Robinson
Peter Robinson
John Ralston Saul
Shyam Selvadurai
Russell Smith
Rosemary Sullivan
Susan Swan
Madeleine Thien
Jane Urquhart
Michael Winter
Patricia Young
449 pages, Paperback
First published June 27, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 26, 2016
This is an anthology, a collection of writings submitted by authors and collated in a single volume. All proceeds from the sales of the book go directly to PEN (an acronym for Poets, Essayists, Novelists), a non- political human rights organization which supports the right to the peaceable expression of free speech. It is best known for supporting writers who live under repressive regimes but have chosen to speak out and are now in prison.
There have been two preceding PEN Canadian anthologies, “Writing Away (1994) and Writing Home (1997). This volume differs somewhat in that a small group of international writers have been added to the mix and the mandate given to each contributor is broader, allowing them to interpret the title any way they chose. The title has an interesting double meaning and can be understood either as: writing “Life” or the “Writing Life”.
The list of contributors includes a large number of well-known and accomplished authors who have responded in slightly different ways. As one might expect, there is some overlap in areas of core content, but each writer adds their own individual details and nuances to the topic so it never becomes repetitive. Each author shares some aspect of their anxieties, ambitions and satisfactions working as a writer. And although each thoroughly enjoys writing, they also describe the doubt which seems to haunt them during the arduous and endless process of revision, a process fueled by their intense desire to get a story right.
Some writers recount how they decided to become writers and how they chose their subject matter, whether it be history, crime, biography or fiction. They describe the pleasure of finding the seeds of a perfect story when inspiration is helpful, but that is only a starting point. For most authors, writing is a messy, intuitive process of getting down the words that tell their story, words that may take a direction they may be completely unaware of until they fall on the page. And then, after spending months and sometimes years with their characters, writers may find it difficult to bring it all to an end. Most writers share some superstition about discussing any work that is still in progress except with a close chosen few and all acknowledge the grim truth that nothing guarantees good writing, not even long, hard work.
Some explain the long period of research required to write a book and the difficult process of deciding when to stop researching and start writing. They comment on how a writer must draw the line when the context of historical detail obstructs the narrative. Historical accuracy can sink an interesting storyline instead of reinforcing the illusionary world the author has created for the reader. The primary job of the writer is to write a story that readers want to read, so the story must always come first.
Some share the difficulties they have encountered when they have chosen to use those close to them as the basis for characters in their fiction. They have learned a difficult lesson about how others interpret their work and are hurt by what they have written.
These writers also explore the question of how to approach their readers and whether they adjust their writing to suit the reading public. Do they have an obligation to write only what they know their readers want and deliver an easy pleasant read? This question also involves the tricky road of revision that every writer travels. Editors often suggest and may even demand changes because they believe it will affect the sale of a book. When does the writer accept criticisms and when does he stand his ground when he believes those changes interfere with his story.
Other contributors consider the life of a writer and the difficulty of trying to fulfil their obligations to friends and families. They are constantly in search of the extended periods of solitude they need to write and find it frustrating to fight off interruptions that demand their time or attention. Apart from managing their day to day lives, they must be careful to keep themselves in presentable shape by eating properly and getting enough exercise. And women writers who are also wives and mothers, must tend to the demands of maintaining a household and the disorder and detail that comes with that work.
Most of the contributors included some comments about the constant self-criticism, doubt and fear of failure they carry no matter how well their work is going. And then there are the costly time consuming mistakes, when entire chapters are trashed, when what looks brilliant one day, looks like garbage the next. One author describes it quite succinctly as the sense of failure that “shimmers at the edges” of even the very best writers. This hovering sense of failure is especially difficult for the writer whose has written a very successful debut novel and is trying to follow up with their next literary effort.
Almost all refer to their intimate connection with their readers and their commitment to deliver something of quality for the time readers spend with what has taken them so long to get down on paper
Several comment on the need to participate in the promotion of their work, pulled from the quiet solitude of their writing to perform publically. They are often called to read, socialize at festivals and literary events and help market their books, a need which goes against the grain for those who tend to be rather solitary individuals. But every writer wants his work to be read and recognized and so a writer’s job is not only to write, but to acquire and maintain a public persona that keeps their works front and center in the public’s eye. And although some may dislike the idea of competition and literary prizes, these matter because they assign merit as well as fuel sales. And healthy sales means the work gets out to as many readers as possible and supports a living which allows a writer to continue to write. There is always the dark uncertainty that comes when a writer’s efforts don’t sell. Writers write because they believe they have something important to say. But if no one reads your work does that mean that you are not any good or that nothing you have written is important?
What is interesting is the ways writers and readers live similar lives. The act of reading is a solitary experience, as is the act of reading. Readers like to read and writers like to write. And each enjoys the final product.
I found this an interesting and informative book, one that is easily picked up and put down while reading other volumes. It is a book I really enjoyed and I highly recommend it to others.
There have been two preceding PEN Canadian anthologies, “Writing Away (1994) and Writing Home (1997). This volume differs somewhat in that a small group of international writers have been added to the mix and the mandate given to each contributor is broader, allowing them to interpret the title any way they chose. The title has an interesting double meaning and can be understood either as: writing “Life” or the “Writing Life”.
The list of contributors includes a large number of well-known and accomplished authors who have responded in slightly different ways. As one might expect, there is some overlap in areas of core content, but each writer adds their own individual details and nuances to the topic so it never becomes repetitive. Each author shares some aspect of their anxieties, ambitions and satisfactions working as a writer. And although each thoroughly enjoys writing, they also describe the doubt which seems to haunt them during the arduous and endless process of revision, a process fueled by their intense desire to get a story right.
Some writers recount how they decided to become writers and how they chose their subject matter, whether it be history, crime, biography or fiction. They describe the pleasure of finding the seeds of a perfect story when inspiration is helpful, but that is only a starting point. For most authors, writing is a messy, intuitive process of getting down the words that tell their story, words that may take a direction they may be completely unaware of until they fall on the page. And then, after spending months and sometimes years with their characters, writers may find it difficult to bring it all to an end. Most writers share some superstition about discussing any work that is still in progress except with a close chosen few and all acknowledge the grim truth that nothing guarantees good writing, not even long, hard work.
Some explain the long period of research required to write a book and the difficult process of deciding when to stop researching and start writing. They comment on how a writer must draw the line when the context of historical detail obstructs the narrative. Historical accuracy can sink an interesting storyline instead of reinforcing the illusionary world the author has created for the reader. The primary job of the writer is to write a story that readers want to read, so the story must always come first.
Some share the difficulties they have encountered when they have chosen to use those close to them as the basis for characters in their fiction. They have learned a difficult lesson about how others interpret their work and are hurt by what they have written.
These writers also explore the question of how to approach their readers and whether they adjust their writing to suit the reading public. Do they have an obligation to write only what they know their readers want and deliver an easy pleasant read? This question also involves the tricky road of revision that every writer travels. Editors often suggest and may even demand changes because they believe it will affect the sale of a book. When does the writer accept criticisms and when does he stand his ground when he believes those changes interfere with his story.
Other contributors consider the life of a writer and the difficulty of trying to fulfil their obligations to friends and families. They are constantly in search of the extended periods of solitude they need to write and find it frustrating to fight off interruptions that demand their time or attention. Apart from managing their day to day lives, they must be careful to keep themselves in presentable shape by eating properly and getting enough exercise. And women writers who are also wives and mothers, must tend to the demands of maintaining a household and the disorder and detail that comes with that work.
Most of the contributors included some comments about the constant self-criticism, doubt and fear of failure they carry no matter how well their work is going. And then there are the costly time consuming mistakes, when entire chapters are trashed, when what looks brilliant one day, looks like garbage the next. One author describes it quite succinctly as the sense of failure that “shimmers at the edges” of even the very best writers. This hovering sense of failure is especially difficult for the writer whose has written a very successful debut novel and is trying to follow up with their next literary effort.
Almost all refer to their intimate connection with their readers and their commitment to deliver something of quality for the time readers spend with what has taken them so long to get down on paper
Several comment on the need to participate in the promotion of their work, pulled from the quiet solitude of their writing to perform publically. They are often called to read, socialize at festivals and literary events and help market their books, a need which goes against the grain for those who tend to be rather solitary individuals. But every writer wants his work to be read and recognized and so a writer’s job is not only to write, but to acquire and maintain a public persona that keeps their works front and center in the public’s eye. And although some may dislike the idea of competition and literary prizes, these matter because they assign merit as well as fuel sales. And healthy sales means the work gets out to as many readers as possible and supports a living which allows a writer to continue to write. There is always the dark uncertainty that comes when a writer’s efforts don’t sell. Writers write because they believe they have something important to say. But if no one reads your work does that mean that you are not any good or that nothing you have written is important?
What is interesting is the ways writers and readers live similar lives. The act of reading is a solitary experience, as is the act of reading. Readers like to read and writers like to write. And each enjoys the final product.
I found this an interesting and informative book, one that is easily picked up and put down while reading other volumes. It is a book I really enjoyed and I highly recommend it to others.
July 14, 2020
A thought-provoking collection of essays about writing and life. I stumbled across this book in a used bookstore and scooped it up because I was interested in reading Alice Munro's essay "Writing Or, Giving Up Writing," which is all about what it means to write your last book. In that essay, she talked about letting go of the thing that she loved most about the writing process: "the really good time when you are just getting the idea, or rather when you encounter the idea, bump into it, as if it has always been wandering around in your head?" The idea of the story, rather than the actual story, in other words. I can so relate to that!
December 21, 2008
A great read when one is lost in the art of writing and needs inspiration from those who have gone before us
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews