To do good writing, read good writing. Here’s the good writing I’ve been reading this week.
On reading Ann Patchett
You might think by the headline that I’d talk about Ann Patchett’s latest book, State of Wonder. While the premise sounds intriguing and the reviews have been terrific, that isn’t the Ann Patchett novel I’m writing about. I just got around to reading Bel Canto, Patchett’s story of the bungled kidnapping of a group of opera-loving party goers in an unnamed South American country that starts out funny, turns serious and ends up as heart wrenching as it gets.
My reading group loved Bel Canto back when I was still in California and still in a reading group. But I couldn’t get into it. The premise sounded silly: why should I care about a book on South American rebels and opera? I didn’t.
Then awhile back, one of my sisters read the book and gave me her copy. It sat on my office bookshelf for a few months and my nightstand for a few more before I decided to give it another try.
The first few chapters are as stifling as the scenes Patchett conjures: diplomats and dignitaries trapped inside the enormous living room of the vice presidential mansion after an America opera star sings for a visiting Japanese businessman’s birthday. Those first traumatic hours turn into days, then weeks, then months. Patchett slowly fills in the lines of the characters she’s drawn, page by page revealing more of who they are and why they’re there. Just as gradually, the action of the novel begins to spill out of that enormous room into other areas of the house, and ultimately – and tragically – into the yard that surrounds it. The way the action and character development mirror each other is only one example of Patchett’s mastery of the craft.
Just as gradually as the plot unfolded, I fell in love with the book, which is one reason I know it won’t take me 10 years to read State of Wonder.
What Bel Canto taught me:
- An unusual premise can be a major stumbling block; the best way around it is writing that practically forces readers to continue.
- It’s OK for funny stories to be serious, and serious stories to be funny, it doesn’t have to be either or the other.
- Unfold a story like you’d unfold a new blouse, carefully, so all is not revealed until the very end. A little suspense – or even a lot – is a good thing.
Sports Illustrated’s Summer Double Issue: “Where Are They Now?”
One good part of getting older – yes, there are good parts – is remembering when. The editors at Sports Illustrated must think so too because this week’s double issue has back-to-back-to-back stories that all fit into the category of sports nostalgia. Why else would Yogi Berra be on the cover (sadly, I didn’t realize he was still around, sorry Yogi). While the accompanying Berra profile and a then-and-now photo essay of former NFL players are good, they’re not even the best part. That designation goes to a retrospective of “Major League,” the low-budget baseball comedy that opened 22 years ago and made stars out of Charlie Sheen and Wesley Snipes. Hand it to Sheen, he’s one screwed up guy, but he tells it like he sees it and gives a hell of a quote. Sheen, who played baseball in high school and considered a pro career, reveals in the Q&A that he took steroids to prep for the film. One gem: “When I saw the script it wasn’t like catnip, it was like crack.”
Other recommended reading from this week:
- StumbleUpon releases new widget for news sites (Journalism.co.uk) – The widget is supposed to help readers find information within a particular blog or news site that they’d be most interested in.
- Use your content archives to be relevant (Conversation Agent) – Why it’s a good idea to have an editorial calendar, so you can go through it periodically to see what subjects you’ve been missing, what old posts you could point new readers to, and what material you could pull together to create new posts.
- 6 Ways to Improve Your Company’s Online Content (Amex OpenForum) – Written for small businesses, but applicable to freelancers, writers or anyone with a blog.
- Twitter announces Twitter for Newsrooms, a Best Practices Guide for Journalists (10,000 Words)
It’s been a while since I read Bel Canto and my memory is that I loved it. But now, reading your post, I do recall that in the beginning, I thought, “Huh? What’s the big deal?” By the end I was absorbed.
I loved Bel Canto when I read it years ago. The slow start didn’t bother me, but then I sing opera as a hobby. That’s why I started reading it, but in the end it was the portrayal of Stockholm Syndrome that really stayed with me. I don’t remember the opera part of the book at all. Interesting how things morph as you read. Nice article!