I just finished the novel Paris Wife by Paula McLain, a terrific book about Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley Richardson and their early years in the 1920s, mostly spent in Paris as he struggled to become a published author.
Enjoyable, well-researched, and full of creative artists who truly loved literature, the story also made me nostalgic for my earlier days, for the stereotype I grew up with of authors typing away in their attics, creative geniuses alone and unsung, until some savvy editor took a chance on them and they had their first breakout bestseller. From then on, authors got to bask in fame and riches beyond their wildest dreams.
Movies continue to perpetuate this stereotype, perhaps because the screenplay writers share a similar fantasy. In “As Good As It Gets,” best-selling author Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) lives and writes in isolation, so hostile to everyone around him he even tosses a neighbor’s dog down the refuse chute. That film is now seventeen years old, of course, but “Stranger Than Fiction” released in 2006 continues the myth. Best-selling author Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson) has missed her deadlines with the publisher for so long they send an assistant (Queen Latifah) to coddle her, shop for her, pay her bills, and meet her every need.
Mind you, as a writer I too need uninterrupted hours to focus. But the idea these novels of genius are created in complete isolation is stretching the real writing world beyond recognition.
“Even the famous ‘self-taught’ writers,” one of my writing teachers informed me, “had mentors, already published authors who would read their work and give them feedback.” Hence the acknowledgements page in a book. Writers may write alone, but the next level, the revising and polishing and refining and rewriting are best done in community. An early readership and thoughtful feedback help a writer build and deepen their work.
So it is that writers seek out one another, in order to grow and also to be encouraged, even in the face of multiple rejections. In that spirit, the Seattle area has much to offer, from writing meet-up groups to a variety of classes, events, and professional organizations.
Take for instance the Richard Hugo House, a writing mecca operated out of a ramshackle house on Capitol Hill (with parking!). The Hugo House offers a great selection of classes by published authors and writing instructors, plus readings, literary series, workshops and open mikes. More at http://hugohouse.org.
Another networking hotspot is Northwest Bookfest, held this fall on November 1-2 at Northwest University in Kirkland. The two-day conference “will focus on the benefits and challenges of digital publishing. … This conference will provide education, networking opportunities and information about the many facets of this new alternative publishing model.” http://nwbookfest.com/
Seattle Free Lances (seattlefreelances.org) is a professional and social network of writers in the Pacific Northwest. Started in 1921 by author and Seattle Post-Intelligencer editor Miss Mabel T. Harding and ten other local Seattle writers, the group has met monthly for over nine decades, offering an opportunity for writers to support one another, network, and keep their fingers on the pulse of the ever-changing writing and publishing industry. The first meeting of the fall season happens tonight, September 17, 6:45 p.m. at the UW Botanic Gardens, where author Terry Persun speaks on “Publishing and Marketing Your Books And Articles: Today’s Many Publishing Options.” The organization holds monthly meetings at the Botanic Gardens, the next one schedule for October 15. More at http://seattlefreelances.org.
At these and other events around town, writers have the opportunity to network, to engage face to face with audiences for their work, and to champion literature. Assets invaluable to every writer.
Except the likes of Ernest Hemingway, you’re thinking. Wasn’t he the epitome of the self-made writer? Not exactly. In the well-researched Paris Wife, the story goes that in Paris, Hemingway sat at the feet of the likes of Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound and others. Not only that, he took letters of introduction with him to Paris in the first place, assuring his entrée into that world.
Writers need time alone getting creative, and time in the world networking. Not to mention the great characters you’ll meet, who will find a way into your stories.
Islander and author Claire Gebben is a columnist for the Mercer Island Reporter.
