Book Review by K.S.Loganathan.
Ursula K.Le Guin (1929-2018) is an American author best known for her science fiction, poetry ,short stories and essays. Between 1968 and 1974, she created some of her best works- The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed ,The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas- in which she championed her philosophy of a higher morality than Utilitarianism and argued that language shapes the structure of the human mind and reality.
” We will need writers who can remember freedom” , she has said.
Her book is a monograph for storytellers “to navigate the stormy waters of publishing in the 21st century”. It lists and discusses key topics , includes examples from good writers (all classic pieces from the earlier centuries) and exercises for writers to hone the craft, as well as a small glossary of terms.
Most of the writing courses in educational institutions focus on expository writing- giving information, explaining etc. and are not about storytelling. Long practice in academic, bureaucratic or technical jargon can stifle the storyteller within an aspiring writer .
Ursula K.LeGuin’s advice to storytellers is summarized here. Narrative writers must listen to their own prose to train their” mind’s ear”. Alice Walker’s book ,’The Color Purple’, is notable for its aural beauty, the special sound of its language. Instead of using a program to correct one’s punctuation and grammar on the computer, one must rely on a grammar manual like Karen Elizabeth Gordon ‘s ‘ The Well Tempered Sentence’.
One Sentence must lead to the next ; there must be variety in sentence length to contrast and interplay with the sentences around it, and in what it says and does. Virginia Woolf makes words fit the “wave in her mind” as she searches for the right rhythm. Consequently, her prose goes far deeper than words.
Although repetition is usually frowned upon by editors in fiction writing, repetition, foreshadowing and echoing– all contribute to the structure and pace of the narrative. Adjectives and adverbs can add life but they must be carefully chosen.
The choice of whether to write a piece of fiction in first person or third person is a critical one. Posing, egotism, self-consciousness, and monotony are the pitfalls of first-person narration in fiction and in memoir.Third person narrative is the commonest, but when dialogue revolves around ‘ he said’ or ‘she said’ it can become tedious, and the reader should be aware of when and how it changes person. Confusions can also arise when the writer goes back and forth between past and present tense without a marker like a line or chapter break or dingbat( the font, not the person )
There are five principal narrative points of view- the reliable narrator, first person , limited third person, omniscient author, and the objective narrator. A shift from one point of view to another will affect the whole narrative, and if required, it must be done carefully. Virginia Woolf does this seamlessly in ‘To the Lighthouse’ by leaving effective cues to the reader.
Making information a part of the story is a skill that must be learnt. Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ creates a whole world in vivid, concrete detail as the story moves unceasingly forward, keeping the reader engrossed. In action writing , the author must include everything the reader needs to know, but nothing more.
Participation in writing workshops which are guided by a leader or peer group, is useful in preparing a novel for publication, by doing exercises together in critiquing and producing manuscripts by rotation .The exercises in this book get progressively more difficult, and will interest the writer more than the reader . Overall , it is a book to be digested by the aspiring storyteller, even though it may offer nothing of contemporary interest , as the subtitle promises. Perhaps the basics will stand you in good stead in storytelling as well as seamanship.
