What does one writer
tell another? We all know the basic
techniques of writing and grammar, or at least we believe we understand the
major rules. But, will a writer that
writes grammatically correct sentences and finely crafted paragraphs create an
interesting reading experience for their readers? I believe in many cases it creates the
opposite effect.
I refer to myself as a
storyteller. Because I believe the soul of all good writing,as well as great reading
experiences, is a well thought out story. Without a good story to begin with you often end
up with a patchwork quilt of smartly conceived sentences or clever words. You end
up developing a book or a poem with only a beginning, middle and an end. Your reader will most likely put your book
down and wonder why you even took the time to write the book in the first place.
I recently published a
book of thirteen short stories called A
View From The Side Of The Road. Though I still continue to write in a
number of genres; as I have a new book of poetry The Maine Poetic, a new play called The Shadow of the Soul and will soon come out with a coffee-table
book on the fiddlehead called Fiddlemainia.
Regardless of the type of writing I am doing, I first focus on telling a complete
story. I believe for any author to be truly successful; whether they are writing
fictional books, poetry or screenplays,they must first learn to tell a complete story.
If for no other reason than it is the gift all readers want to receive from a
writer.
The same concept that applies
to fiction also applies to nonfiction. I know a writer who is busy writing a
historical nonfiction book on interesting crimes that were committed in the
last two hundred years in one of our major American cities. In our discussions
on the development of his book,what appears clear to me is the similarity
between nonfiction and fiction when it comes to determining voice, movement and
perspective in an effort to maintain the reader’s attention.While these
concepts are also all characteristics of good story telling, everything you
write requires a complete inner story in order to be developed beyond a listing
of facts and events.
I can’t imagine a game
or a sporting event that is not connected to some kind of geometric shape. In the same way you cannot have a poem or book
that doesn’t have an internal core story. For even a book on microbiology will
have a point of view and a hierarchy of selective points to cover. Once you see
the purpose of the core story, you will quickly grasp that all writing -whether
it be the Bible, a geometry book, a daily planner for your next vacation or
wedding, has a core story.
A mistake made by many new
writers is the belief that they can create a story around a few clever concepts
or action events. The reader will be amazed and taken in with their brilliance
and they will sell a ton of books. It
could happen, but most likely your book will end up in the dollar bin. In my own
writing, I am always aware of the story I want to tell even before I begin to
focus on the style, details, dialogue and characterization associated with that
story. By the time I write my story, I already believe that my story is as real
as any other event in my life.
A typical story might
be that at the age of fifteen I spent a summer in Paris where I met a young
French girl who I fell in love with and then met twenty years later in a Paris café
and she was still wearing a gold heart necklace around her neck that I had
given to her. It is a very uncomplicated,
but a universally appealing story about a possible lost love or a youthful
romance that continued through time. Regardless of the details of the story, it
is a story your reader will follow along with and if it is well crafted, with
an ending that flows from the details of the story, it will be a story your
reader will come to enjoy.
My advice for other
writers is to work at becoming a good storyteller. Learn to recognize the
elements of a good story. Tell yourself and others stories about any subject
that interests you. Learn to recognize
the kind of story you want to tell and never write a story that doesn’t emotionally
appeal to you at some level. When you see two octogenarians holding hands in
the park, invent a back story to go with them -or if you’re at an event, watch
the faces in the crowd and pick out faces that are story material and tell yourself
a story about them.When everywhere you go and in every conversation you have,
you are constantly thinking in terms of there being an underlying story you will
naturally become a good storyteller.
In my own case, I am
constantly weaving my storytelling through different writing styles. Few, if
any, short story writers today are writing stories that demonstrate as much
diversity of style and theme originality as you will find in A View From The Side Of The Road. Each
one of the short stories has its own unique writing style, voice and flavor.
The book reads as if it was written by thirteen different writers. But, each
story is an independent component of an expansive work that looks at the human
condition from multiple angles. What makes this book special is its appeal to a
broad range of readers. A reader will always find two or three stories that
they will claim emotionally moved them, had them laughing out loud, or were
written with people or places that they are familiar with.
Whether it is a ghost
pirate looking to consecrate his bones, or a crazy old playwright who believes
someone killed his wife, or a lonely woman struggling to find meaning in her
life, a feud between a rural mailman and a newcomer to rural Maine, you will find
in each and every story characters and ideas that will stimulate the reader’s
imagination. What A View From The Side
Of The Road does best is open up thirteen new worlds to the reader.
A View From The Side Of The Road is a collection of stories told by
a storyteller for readers who need the short story format as a late night snack,
or a long commute distraction, or an afternoon beach read which can be totally
consumed in one or two sittings and has the texture and feel of a literary
appetizer. What will make this particular book memorable for all readers are the
finely crafted characters the reader will meet along the way. The characters will stay with them long after
they have finished this book. Like a great film that lingers in your mind for
days or years, A View From The Side Of
The Road will also fasten itself to your imagination. Much Like Dickens’s
Oliver who wanted more, many readers who have already read this book have
stated that the worst thing about reading the book is that when you finish it,
you feel like there should be at least one more story.
Guest Book:
Guest Blogger Bio
The road began for L E Barrett in Hallowell,
Maine. It has taken him several times around the world. He grew up in a small
Maine river city. At a young age, he enlisted in the Marines and served in
Vietnam. He eventually had both a military and senior level government career.
He is the father of three sons. He received a Bachelor’s Degree from
Northeastern University in Boston, MA and a Masters Degree from the University
of Maine in Orono, ME. All along the road, he wrote, he thought, and he wrote some
more and more. So that before his days drain away, he will have said what he
came here to say! He currently has three books in print (A View From The Side
Of The Road, The Maine Poetic and The Shadow Of The Soul) and can be found on
Amazon or Kindle.
Website: http://lebarrett.com/
Other Books:
