On this day in 1803, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, dramatist and novelist, was born in London. Even if you’ve never read any of his work, you are no doubt familiar with the first line of his novel Paul Clifford:
If only Snoopy could do what I did on a Friday in New Orleans at Saints and Sinners. The first master class I attended was Stephen McCauley’s “Real Live Characters.”
I’ve already mentioned that I’m crazy about Stephen McCauley’s work, so much so that I, along with Tim, would have had the honor of inducting him into the Saints and Sinners Hall of Fame had he not been forced to leave the festival early because of a family emergency.
One of McCauley’s points was about collaboration between writers–not so much contributing to the same work, as I have with my writing partners, but even working in the same environment. Tim and I know the value of sharing the same space and writing independently of each other but still establishing an atmosphere of creative energy that benefits us both.
I was amused when McCauley had us do a writing exercise, and I had paper and pen to loan Tim, who had nothing to write with or on, but he had all kinds of ideas that he began furiously scribbling. Whereas I sat there hissing, “I don’t have a character… I don’t have but one thing inside a character’s imagined bedside table… I don’t know what to write…” etc.
At different times, one of us may meet the mechanical needs of our efforts, and the other may meet our creative needs. This is collaboration.
Jim Grimsley’s master class was canceled when his plans to attend the festival were changed at the last minute. During our down time, Tim kindly picked up lunch for us, then it was time to attend Mark Doty’s class, “The Challenges of the Memoir.”
Even as a person who has no plans to write any kind of memoir or autobiography, I knew this was a class I couldn’t miss. I’ve read Doty’s three volumes of his memoirs and most of his poetry, and I’ve heard him speak before. My instincts were right, because his exercises for helping writers remember and shape their personal histories into a narrative are just as useful for creating a fictional character’s history.
One of my most treasured books is this one, in which Mark Doty wrote:
And I was.
If you’re reading this and you’re a person who dreams of finishing your novel or crafting your poetry, take every advantage you can to learn from brilliant writers like Stephen McCauley and Mark Doty–and be persistent.
