May Newsletter

By Jessica Page Morrell

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how writers must take risks, then I read My Dream of You by Nuala O'Faolain and my beliefs were underlined in those shimmering pages.

First, the structure of the novel is difficult-you could say risky. It contains two stories, one following a character, Kathleen DeBurca, at midlife after the sudden death of her dearest friend. She returns to Ireland after a twenty year absence and while in Ireland falls in love and traces and writes about a real woman who had lived there in the 1840's. Both stories weave themes of passion, grief, loss and longing in a rambling, but elegant whole.

But perhaps it is her language that shows her at her most daring. In one crucial scene where Kathleen's lover discovers her with another man, O' Faolain describes his face as a gargoyle. In another passage she describes the terrible ravages of the famine: "families hunted from their cabins by hunger and fever...To lie on wet earth, under rain-sodden straw, your face greasy and gray with sweat, while hot, yellow, poisoned stuff trickles out...Does dying of hunger stop hurting at some point? Like dying in snow? First-Chill-then Stupor-then letting go..."

She introduces the woman at the heart of the historical story with, "She hated the smell of the house" and I immediately understood her. It's a book that never uses quotation marks although there are hundreds of conversations. The author describes a lover who removes his dentures when giving pleasure and renders descriptions of found and lost love so tender that I melted in ways I never melted while reading.

"I'd had a half hour or so in the juicy grass on the edge of a sweet-smelling orchard once myself, at someone's wedding, on a hot autumn evening, somewhere in Kent. I remembered the orange moon through branches with black apple shapes on them and I remember the man putting a gold sandal back on my foot -I even remember the tickle of the blades of grass on my sole and then the firmness of his fingers."

The descriptions of setting are so sensory, so wet, green and accurate, that I was smelling the sea as I read. The mood of sky permeates every scene and she found fresh ways to describe fine rain, cloudbursts, and how "the rain moved on, and a watery sun came out and laid a sparkling filigree on the wet grass of the garden."

O'Faolain also manages to weave the terrible weight of history along with her brand of wisdom. Her insights are never preachy, but always hard-won. Here, Kathleen stops at her task of recording history: " I would leave my lovers there, before they hurt or were hurt. Every present contains its past." At another point she writes, "Happiness keeps you poised, and you do the right thing without effort, whereas you get things wrong when you're struggling with lack of life.

I am stunned when I meet people who claim that they don't read fiction. I want to whisper, explain, that the best fiction illuminates life, perhaps elevates it. We read fiction for the delicious escape it affords, but we read it also to find ourselves, to untangle the knots of our mischief, question and hurts. To cast a light on what it means to be human.

Writers take risks, approach a page with confidence or temerity, but somehow leave parts of themselves in the tracks of words. But of course, it all starts with taking a risk.

I've been thinking about schedules and discipline and how writing requires both. I've discovered something simple about myself. The mornings that I start my day with writing are always good. The days that I begin with editing or answering e-mails often find me peevish, cranky or even desolate. This morning I sat in bed with a notebook noticing, or rather lamenting another month vanished, wondering how to harness time, how to hitch dreams to the moon spinning too fast.

It's such a simple thing, to start the day with a notebook, but in those quiet morning moments I discover myself in ways that that I cannot begin to describe. And while I cannot grab at time, I can keep my promises to myself, I can stretch toward a future that contains more hope. It's simple this thing of starting a day.

Tips for Writing Creative Nonfiction

Creative nonfiction is a sort of hybrid of fiction and nonfiction. It reads like fiction but is loyal to facts and truth. The best of the genre has something more-a bit of magic, the poetry of beautifully written sentences, and thoughtful explorations of themes. In his book Creative Nonfiction, Philip Gerard writes, "It's a fascinating enterprise, this business of trying to tell the truth about the world through writing that is at once factual and literary. It calls for a reporter's investigative determination, a photographer's eye for detail, a historian's sense of documentation, a poet's passion for language, a storyteller's feel for narrative arc, a detective's nose for truth, a travel agent's ability to organize an itinerary, some wise forethought, a little courage to put yourself on the line, a pencil and paper and a bit of luck..." I don't know about you, but that list does not describe me on most days, but I still love the challenge of writing nonfiction that is alive and vivid.

So while we're trying to develop the many techniques he outlines, here are a few things to keep in mind. First, write because you must. We don't always choose writing, or a specific topic; rather it chooses us. Write about topics and issues that you feel passionately about. Write to understand how you think, why you worry, what you believe. Write to make sense of this often bewildering world.

As you write, search for deeper themes and meaning in the subjects that you're drawn to.

Pay attention to language and style. Sculpt gorgeous sentences; choose fresh and inventive metaphors; make your words simmer on the page.

Borrow narrative techniques and remember that you're always telling a story. Thus, you'll paint scenes, use dialogue, anecdotes and description to bring the reader in. Good nonfiction contains an accurate and vivid sense of the real world, but at its heart, there is a drive, a tension as in fiction, tugging it along.

Creative nonfiction also contains a sense of reflection, a thoughtful approach. Spend time really thinking about and exploring the subject and let this thoughtful approach permeate the page.

Quotes of the month:

©Jessica Page Morrell
For more information contact:
Jessica Morrell | Email: jesswrites@juno.com