Why We Write by Meredith Maran

 

 

 

I just picked up Why We Write: 20 Acclaimed Authors on How and Why They Do What They Do by Meredith Maran and I've been enjoying the entries on the various authors tremendously. (I admit I've been skipping around instead of reading straight through.) 

Most writers have tried to answer the question at some point, either formally on a grant application or informally, of why they write.  Some will say there is a “right” answer but I believe it is a very personal answer, and in this book we hear those answers from 20 well-known authors. 

For authors, you may also glean some ideas from the portion about “how” they do what they do. Years ago, Terry McMillan picked up a job application for McDonald’s and fills it out for every single character in her books.  She goes further though. “I create a five-page profile for every one of my characters so I know everything about them: what size shoes they wear, if their hair is dyed, if they bounce checks, have allergies, what they hate about themselves, what they wish they could change, if they pay their bills on time.”

Now, maybe this isn’t completely necessary but I can sure see the benefit.  I’ve always been something of a “method” writer, getting inside the character and writing from the inside out.  I need to know whether my character would really do the things that I’m writing for them.  Will it ring true for the reader?  I figure if I really know my character, I can put them in a situation and I will know what they will do, how they think and how they will react.

I think it would be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about these particular writers or how writers work in general and there’s a good variety of authors – Isabel Allende, David Baldacci, Jennifer Egan, James Frey, Sue Grafton, Sara Gruen, Kathryn Harrison, Gish Jen, Sebastian Junger, Mary Karr, Michael Lewis, Armistead Maupin, Terry McMillan, Rick Moody, Walter Mosley, Susan Orlean, Ann Patchett, Jodi Picoult, Jane Smiley and Meg Wolitzer.

It’s a fascinating look and, potentially, a useful one.