Craft 101: Listening to Learn

Ruth E. Walker

Recently, I attended the Festival of Authors, an annual celebration of books and the people who write them. Presented by the Ontario Writers’ Conference, the Festival held a perfect mix for me: authors I’ve read and know and authors I’ve haven’t even heard of.

Why is an author reading important? What can I learn from a new writer? And for that matter, what’s left to learn from a writer I know?

Plenty, from all of it.

Exploring the new and shiny

Just like when I first start to write something new, an unknown writer offers me exciting possibilities to discover. It’s a chance to sit back and listen to where they found their inspiration and what brought them to the page. I get to hear about their life before the book and where it has taken them.

For Greg Gilhooly, I Am Nobody granted him one more measure of freedom climbing out from under a decades-long burden. Graham James, the hockey coach predator, groomed Greg for sexual assault. And when he read from a visceral childhood scene of grappling with the nightmare of shame and confusion, the room was breathless and silent.

But it was the follow-up interview with knowledgable and gracious host Ted Barris that connected us all to Greg.

A teachable moment for every memoir writer: Your story may be filled with pain and you may have lost so much in living it but your strength lies in your clear-eyed backward glance. Truth telling versus blaming. Offering solutions. No “poor me” in this interview. A thoughtful and compassionate writer, Greg should be at many more festivals.

Katherine Ashenburg‘s life experience included radio producer, newspaper editor and nonfiction author…so naturally she would want to write a novel about the wives of two 19th century Swedish artists. A début author as she starts into her 70s (so début it was only Week One) Katherine is already working on her second novel.

Her reading was excellent. Nuanced and richly layered dialogue captured the unsaid as much as what was in the conversation. Then Ted and Katherine had a conversation that was equally intriguing about research and the source of inspiration.

Write when you’re ready, no matter when it is: Why write about Sweden? A years-ago trip to see artist Karl Larsson’s home in Sundborn triggered an idea that waited for the “write” time for Katherine to take it to the page.

Diving into the familiar

I first heard Brad Smith at a Whitby, Ontario author reading in 2000 after he published his second book, One-Eyed Jacks. It’s a novel I quite enjoyed, along with his next book, All Hat. His style was gritty back then with a distinctly Canadian spice of irony sprinkled with humour. The Return of Kid Cooper is Brad’s 11th novel and he chose to read one of the more “low-key” scenes. And there it was: distinctly spiced with humour and ironic tones.

Brad wisely chose to read something that showed off his skill with evoking time and place and rising tension: Montana at the Alberta border, cattle ranch in 1910, and a recently released killer sipping tea on the porch with two ladies. We were all sipping tea along with them. And knowing fireworks were coming.

A great lesson for when you read your work: choose a scene that whets the appetite but leaves them wanting to know more. That’s what Brad wisely did.

Similarly, poet Barbara E. Hunt chose to read just a few poems from her latest collection, giving us a glimpse into her approach to the maker-theme of Devotions. More than a book of poems, this is an interactive “colouring book”, inviting readers to make their own version with illumination edging on each page, ready for paint, crayon, or multimedia interpretations.

Make it an invitation: An homage to many of the homesteading skills of the past, Barbara’s reading was an invitation to discover much more between the pages.

And that is what connected all the readings and interviews for the audience. You, the audience, are invited to discover. The passions of the authors. The questions that drive them. The discoveries they make. The serendipity of story beginnings. Their struggles. Their human qualities that find their way into their books.

It’s a validation for you, writer. You’ll find yourself reflected in an answer to a question or a way of presenting a scene. And you also learn: how to answer questions, how to choose a reading, how to connect with an audience.

Beautiful words sum it up

The evening kicked off with Festival patron, Wayson Choy, giving us a proverbial kick in the pants in typical gentle, encouraging and generous Wayson-style. “Find your truth and share it,” he said, reminding us that we all have “wonderful stories within and every right to tell them.”

If you ever doubt your ability to write a story (and who among us has not felt that doubt many times?) take a dose of Wayson. Write your truth. Listen to the life of writers whenever you get the chance. Read new voices along with the tried-and-true.

It’s all part of the learning journey for a writer at any stage.

DID YOU KNOW

There are so many opportunities to hear writers read their work and be interviewed:

In the fall, the International Festival of Authors is a 10-day offering of writers in Toronto and B.C. has the Vancouver Writers Fest. In several cities, look for the one-day celebration of books and writers at Word on the Street. Do some research and you’ll find authors reading from coast to coast to coast in Canada. From coffee shops to university lecture halls to writer organizations, there are plenty of events that feature authors and their books.

Even if you can’t get out to an author reading locally, you have no excuse to miss out on the experience of listening to writers discuss their work and occasionally read from it. CBC Radio offers up Writers and Company with Eleanor Wachtel and The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers.

An Altered Life

I’ve been to a place where all rivers run north, flowing up to the Arctic. I’ve travelled eight hours by car and then five hours by train to reach a place of six seasons: summer, fall, river freeze up, winter, ice break up and spring. I sat in a wide-bottomed freighter canoe, ferried to where the Moose River empties into the salted waters of James Bay.

Thanks to the kind invitation of the Ontario Writers’ Conference, I came to Moose Factory last month to teach a workshop. It was the first Moose Factory Writers’ Retreat, the brainchild of Jean-Pierre Chabot and the MoCreebec Eeyoud Council of the Cree Nation. I hope it is just the beginning of many more arts-related gatherings.

Imagine taking a workshop in the dining room of the Cree Village Eco Lodge, where the soaring wood-lined structure carries both traditional and modern cultural touches. The natural influences—stone, wood, light—affected every moment of our time in that room.

I’ll never be the same writer. There is an energy in Moose Factory unlike anything I’ve experienced. It is the place. And it is the people.

The Place

Moose Factory is where high school students don’t wait for their yellow buses, they cluster by the shore for water taxis (and during freeze up and break up, they climb aboard helicopters to cross the Moose River, and in winter, drive over on the ice road.) Here, school starts early to allow students time off for the all-important goose hunt each fall.

Here, the bright blue sky is big because the land is flat and the treeline marks the horizon with stunted dark spikes of black spruce. A place where walkways are scarce and no roads are paved, where the province’s Highway Traffic Act is powerless and a taxi ride across town is a flat rate.

I enjoyed fabulous bannock burgers at John T’s Wachay Wagon and great fish and chips at the Treeline Diner next to the Northern Store. At GG’s Ace Hardware, you can buy anything. And I mean anything. From ammunition, bagged candy and condoms to groceries, vacuum cleaners and christening outfits.

Compact, neatly maintained bungalows line many of the roads, like any other subdivision in southern Ontario. Except for spruce log tee-pee frames in backyards, and the occasional wildlife that wander through: an unfortunate moose, lingering tree-climbing bear cubs and the ever-present cheeky red squirrels enrich the stories around backyard campfires.

The People

Where to begin? It would take several blog posts to give you a reasonable sense of the generosity and attention I received from Moose Factory residents. When I say attention, I don’t mean fawning admiration or special treatment. I mean people who are present. With you. In the room. It’s remarkable.

It made for a great workshop. I never worked so hard or felt as satisfied at the end of a session as I did in Moose Factory. Our coffee house event the next day was a community celebration of poetry, song, art and prose. The Big Dipper is now also a furred fisher that sacrificed everything to return water to the land. A section of an old freighter canoe, a canvas for the beautiful art of John Reuben, will soon hang on my cottage wall.

But let me tell you story. I was on this trip with Naomi Mesbur and Barbara Hunt of the Ontario Writers’ Conference. Along with Durham Region writers, Erin Thomas and Adele Simmons, we were treated to many amazing moments by the people of Moose Factory.

When The Past Became Present

On one of our several wanderings, Norm, a workshop attendee, former Cree chief and teacher, and now minister, took us into St. Thomas’ Anglican Church. Built in 1885 by the Hudson’s Bay Company, it needs to be restored before it can be used again. St. Thomas’ is an impressive structure, the huge timbers and curved wooden ceiling reflecting the skill of HBC shipbuilders. The massive bell was removed from the cupola and waits silent and still, just inside the entrance. Stained glass windows were also removed and sealed in wooden boxes until their return to the original frames.

We all knew we were being offered a privileged glimpse into this locked and vacant building.

Norm has faith that this historic church will be restored. He asked us to take a seat in the dusty pews. He told us of how the front pews were reserved for management and staff of the Hudson’s Bay Company. The Cree worshippers were kept in the back pews. Norm said, despite all the things his people have endured over the years, they never lost their faith. Just outside, next to the river, they once camped close by.

And then Norm shared something I will never forget. He sang a morning hymn. In Cree. The same hymn sung many mornings by the long ago people camped by the river, the church just steps away. Norm’s words and music soared above and through us as we sat in those pews. Just as they must have done in the 1800s and 1900s, as the mist lifted from the river and the sun coloured the tips of the treeline.

Moose Factory is rich in contradictions. Wi-Fi in the Eco Lodge. Pot holes on the roads that could swallow your shoes. While waiting for my first taste of bannock at the Wachay Wagon, I chatted with members of a movie crew. They were filming author Joseph Boyden‘s Through Black Spruce. They were easy to spot among the locals. More than their big city attire, they carried a kind of out-of-place vibe as they clustered together.

I understood that awkwardness. I, too, felt like I’d fallen through the rabbit hole after stepping onto the Eco Lodge dock. I certainly hope that movie crew allowed the magic of the people and the place to move into their hearts. Like them, I was motivated to come for artistic reasons—my next writing project will explore my ancestral connections to Canada’s fur trade. I hoped for some inspiration.

What I came away with was so much richer. Meegwetch.

DID YOU KNOW?

Writescape picks its retreat locations carefully. We’ve always chosen settings that are flavoured by the natural world. We look for landscapes that inspire with lakeside sunsets or sunrises. Trees, gardens and winding paths offer gifts to the perceptive writer. Quiet corners, comfortable, well-appointed rooms and healthy foods nourish bodies and imaginations.

Join us on November 3 to 5 at Fern Resort on Lake Couchiching for Turning Leaves. Our guest author Vicki Delany looks forward to chatting on Friday evening and delivering a Saturday morning workshop. With more than 20 books to her credit, Vicki has so much to offer participants. This retreat is suitable for writers at all levels.

Write The Elusive End

Ruth E. Walker

Oh, the love affair of writing the novel. The first blush of an idea. The rising heat as you pound out page after page of an unfolding story. You don’t want it to stop.

You constantly think about your novel, about your characters, your plot, your wonderful, endless possibilities… Until you find yourself without an ending.

Yeah, End-less: Your sense of dread when you need to finish your novel but there is no ending in sight.

Or End-less: Your sense of disappointment with an ENDing that is LESS than satisfying.

Poet and playwright Y.B. Yeats referred to the ending of a poem like a “click”:

The correction of prose, because it has no fixed laws, is endless, a poem comes right with a click like a closing box. (1935 letter to Lady Dorothy Wellesley)

While I might argue with him that prose indeed has many fixed laws for its “correction”, I’ve always liked Yeats’s idea of a “click like a closing box.” In my opinion, not just poetry needs to possess that “click” at the end.

No matter the issue, if you come to the end of your novel with a whimper instead of a bang, or at the least, the lovely satisfying “click”…your readers will be unhappy. And nobody wants unhappy readers.But if you’ve written a great beginning, do you need to give the same focus to the end? Prolific crime novelist Mickey Spillane said:

Your first chapter sells your book. Your last chapter sells your next book.

Click

Spillane’s not talking about sequels. A wise writer remembers that a disappointing or weak ending will undo all the joy your reader got at the beginning.

So what inspired this post? I’m working on the ending of my novel. I have three written (or at least, sketched out.) One tragic. One that leaves room for a sequel. And one that ends more positively. I’m undecided but I feel that I’m getting closer to the right ending. To help me work through the possibilities, I did some exploring on what a good ending needs. I’m sharing some highlights here:

A good ending needs:

To show change

Growth/change in your POV character is a common expectation for readers. But you could have a POV character who is “static” and remains unchanged right to the end. In that case, your reader must somehow be changed, have a new/deeper understanding of the impact of that character’s lack of change.

To be inevitable

This is not the same as predictable; no reader wants an ending that has been hinted at in every chapter since page one. And no reader wants deus ex machina endings with the ‘gods’ suddenly appearing and fixing everything.

To read something brilliantly written with an inevitable yet often unexpected ending, check out any of Alice Munro’s stories. I can re-read one of her stories and still get that yummy satisfaction from an inevitable, but often surprising, end. Munro’s “Dance of the Happy Shades”, about an uncomfortable children’s piano recital, has a masterful and quietly profound ending.

Not to be afraid to be unhappy

Who doesn’t want a happy ending? But if Romeo and Juliet ran off and lived to a ripe old age, how memorable would that be? Theirs was an “inevitable”, if tragic, ending. We may want a happy ending, but our lives (and some good stories) don’t always comply. And really, they are often better stories if the ending is not all rainbows and sugar plums.

In sum, a good ending needs to be satisfying for the reader…and for the writer. Whether it is a “click” at the end, or a sunset being ridden into with the future uncertain, a good ending needs to make sense. But how do you know if you’ve written the right ending?

In a later post in The Top Drawer, we’ll explore techniques and tips for knowing when you’ve achieved the best possible “The End.” Hopefully, by then, I’ll have found mine.

Did you know:

From endings come new beginnings. Writers in Ontario (and beyond) learned at the Ontario Writers’ Conference that it would be the last such gathering. Gwynn, Heather and I were so sad to hear that. We’d been at every OWC since its launch in 2006. But then the OWC announced an exciting new start. It wasn’t ending after all, just changing format and exploring how to offer writers its signature networking and education opportunities in new and exciting ways.

While it retools, OWC is still holding its monthly Story Starters contest, using images to spark the imaginations of writers. There are prizes to be won and bragging rights to add to your bio, so check out Rich Helms’ quirky and fun image and enter.

Watch Your Language AND From Inspiration to Publication

Gwynn Scheltema and Ruth E. Walker are at the Ontario Writers’ Conference.

Gwynn is offering an advanced class: Watch Your Language. Dialect, foreign languages, accents and other linguistic touches provide diversity and authenticity to dialogue. Gwynn will help participants avoid character stereotypes so that what is being said is not overshadowed by how it’s being said. Gwynn’s popular workshops at the OWC are consistently highly rated and fully booked.

Ruth’s beginner workshop From Inspiration to Publication invites new writers to play with words through hands-on exercises and fun activities. Participants will risk a little and try on different forms of creative writing. Useful handouts offer tips on submitting material to the right market. Ruth will also serve as a Blue Pencil Mentor, offering helpful feedback in one-on-one discussions with writers about their manuscripts.

Gwynn and Ruth have been at the OWC since it launched, facilitating workshops, mentoring writers and enjoying the many speakers and learning opportunities that a comprehensive conference like this has to offer.

To register, visit the Ontario Writers’ Conference.