Letters to a Young Writer: Some Practical and Philosophical Advice By Colum McCann

Colum McCann à 4 Read

From the bestselling author of the National Book Award winner Let the Great World Spin comes a lesson in how to be a writer—and so much more than that.

Intriguing and inspirational, this book is a call to look outward rather than inward. McCann asks his readers to constantly push the boundaries of experience, to see empathy and wonder in the stories we craft and hear.

A paean to the power of language, both by argument and by example, Letters to a Young Writer is fierce and honest in its testament to the bruises delivered by writing as both a profession and a calling. It charges aspiring writers to learn the rules and even break them.

These fifty-two essays are ultimately a profound challenge to a new generation to bring truth and light to a dark world through their art. Letters to a Young Writer: Some Practical and Philosophical Advice

5 stars is just not enough. I am not a writer but, I did not hesitate in the least to accept a digital review copy of this book when it was offered. If I were asked to name my favorite contemporary writers, Colum McCann would without a doubt be on that list. I knew that this would be beautifully written and it was.

This book was so meaningful to me even though I read this purely from the perspective of a an avid reader. It will change how I read a book from here on in. Whether it's a book I love or one not so much, McCann has given me a new respect for the writer, a respect for the intimate process that writing is, for all that it takes to put those words down, to order those words perfectly, to tell a story that can whisper something beautiful in your ear.

I appreciated the quotes from various writers at the beginning of each chapter, but I mostly loved the things that McCann says about writers knowing the most silent hour of the night , about this crafty sullen art . I had goosebumps when he talks about the importance of language, urging the writer to Listen for that quiet line. As a reader I'm always listening for that quiet line so this spoke to me , a reader whose favorite books are those that tell stories quietly.

Highly recommended to writers, old and young, to anyone who has loved a book by Colum McCann, actually to anyone who can say that reading is a part of who they are and believes in what McCann says , Literature proposes possibilities and then makes truths of them. In storytelling we are given some of the most profound evidence of being alive .

A million thanks to you Colum McCann for sharing so much of yourself here and in all you write. I received an advanced copy of this book from Random House through NetGalley, 1443453161 Time for a quick reread!
•••
*5 star advice, folks!*

Letters to a Young Writer is a quick read with brief, bold chapters and a voice so upbeat you can just about dance to it. It offers a multitude of helpful suggestions and persuades writers not to recreate what they already know, but to write toward what they want to know; to look outward, rather than in.

All writing is imagination. It creates out of dust. Even what they choose to call nonfiction.

This guide will not make a writer out of you, but will greatly inspire the writer within you. For those of us who write, inspiration and motivation are key.

Although conveyed in a positive and honest light, these “letters” don't promise or delude; failure is almost guaranteed, but keep moving forward. Don't be afraid! Pick yourself up and try again. And again. Classes are helpful, but no one can show you how to write.

The best teacher will know that she is not teaching you at all.

As a reader, I’ve always found that the writing/delivery of a story is more powerful than what is ultimately being told, and this guide affirms that not every idea will be unique, although every voice should be.

Plot takes a backseat in a good story because what happens is never as interesting as how it happens.

This helpful little ditty crossed my radar at the perfect time, and I know it's one I will seek out again for future guidance and support. Its messages are for all writers - young and old. Don’t trip over the title: Young means “New”, people! I’m on my way to 37, and although I’m not the springiest of chickens, I’m fairly new enough at this writing *stuff*. Best of luck to the rest of the newbies!

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Sometimes we really do find the perfect book, at the perfect time...
1443453161 Five zillion stars!

Dear Mr. McCann,

Could you adopt me? I know that's an unusual request coming from a 60-something woman, but I just had to ask. I know you have a family, but I won’t be noisy and interrupt the routine. I’ll try hard to keep my mouth shut. You’ll be batting around story ideas in your head and won’t even know I’m there.

I have it all planned. We'll all be at the dinner table and I’ll ask you to pass the pepper and then you'll just start reciting your book. The meal-time poetry I never had. I’ll sit there forever, hoping you’ll just lean across the table and utter your entire book into my ear, this one long wise and brilliant poem with no beginning and no end. Of course, you’ve demanded that I carry a notebook, so I’ll scribble down snippets. Pure ecstasy, stuffing my head with your words as I stuff my mouth with the Chicken Kiev.

I love it that you practice what you preach. I know you know this, but your language sings like a happy canary. I absolutely loved these sentences:

“The idea of joy might need a long crazy ungrammatical sentence running on foolishly yeah breathlessly without care or custom just rapture pureness moving as if there’s a horse galloping underneath the words. Sadness, on the other hand, might need to be curt. Sharp. Dark. Alone.”

OMG do those sentences make my head dance! The rhythm slays me. I want to bring out my conga drum and let my fingers dance too! My head, my heart, my soul—all in! But then you’re liable to point out (without shaming me, I hope) that I’m being too noisy. I’m not a glass-is-half-full kind of gal, but I want to think that maybe you’ll encourage your family to get up and dance and we’ll all rock on out.

Okay, okay. You won't adopt me. I get it. It was a long shot. The paperwork alone would be a bitch. I'll just have to be happy being your devoted student. A compulsive one, one who had to highlight mostly every word of your book, which made the underlines sort of useless--nothing stands out because everything stands out. EVERYTHING!

Maybe I'll make a rule that if I highlight nine-tenths of a book, I have to reread it. Rereading it is not punishment, but a necessity, a treat, a piece of key lime pie. What can I say when I loved every single thing about this book? Your chapter titles alone pull me in: There Are No Rules; The Terror of the White Page; How Old Is a Young Writer. Then there’s the chapter Don’t Be a Dick, followed by the chapter: Then Again, Don’t Be Too Nice. I’m controlling myself by not listing the whole Table of Contents here--like I said, I loved Every. Single. Word.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re a really bossy guy, you know. I love it. I’m so in awe of you and your mind, I want to follow every directive you give. It’s not a contradiction that you’re also incredibly humble. And most important, you are so very inspirational. In fact, this is the most inspirational book I have ever read, bar none. To my glee and surprise, I actually wrote half of a short story the second I finished your book, and I’m jonesin’ to get back to it, with your astute advice playing out in my efforts.

I just love how you open each chapter with a cool quote by a writer. You selected beauties; every one of them made me stop and think and nod my head yes. I appreciate, too, that your chapters are short. It’s great for this ADD age. And it makes it easy to pick up your book and get a dose whenever I want—it’s like having a glass of sparkling water at my side.

My key takeaway (though it’s nearly impossible to limit it to one) is to keep my arse in the chair. I’m trying to make that my mantra. Of course I’ll have to change it to “keep my ass in the chair” since I’m American. I hope that’s okay with you.

Other off-the-top-of-my-head takeaways (since I give up—I can’t stop myself): You're never too old to start. There are no rules. Know grammar so you can twist it when you want to. Make your words sing (and dance). Have fun. Stay on track. Slow is okay. Carry a notebook. I’ve heard many of those things before, but you make it this playful and wise poem that’s so totally addictive. You also introduced me to new ideas, like reading aloud. Although I know that will feel weird at first, I think it’s a good idea because I’ll be able to hear the rhythm of the words.

Even though your book is about writing, I think non-writers will adore it too. The last few chapters about the publishing process are targeted to writers, yes, but the rest of the book is universal. Your book made my head dance, it made my heart sing. And there's no describing what it did to my soul. Best book, ever. This book has so many stars, it doesn't know what to do with them. I count my lucky stars that I got to read it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy. 1443453161 Why would someone like me -- a middle aged non writer with no aspirations to become a writer -- read and love Calum McCann's Letters to a Young Writer:

-Because when the publisher sent me an advance copy, I thought why not, having previously loved McCann's fiction.
-Because it's beautifully written from beginning to end -- so many delicious sentences and passages worth highlighting and revisiting.
-Because while McCann purports to provide advice to young writers, he does much more -- his advice is not just for the young and it applies to so much in life beyond writing.
-Because I loved his sincerity and humility.
-Because I felt inspired.
-Because I laughed a bit, and smiled and nodded a lot.
-Because while I really don't have any aspirations to becoming a writer, he planted a seed of desire and inspiration.
-Because there are a few people I need to give this book to.
-Because he says it's ok to end a sentence with a preposition every now and then, as long as you do it knowingly and for the right effect -- mind you, my sentence above was pure laziness.
-Because I wish I lived in a world in which writing so intelligently and beautifully was broadly recognized and applauded rather than viewed suspiciously by many as elitist.
-Because it's short, can be read in snippets, and enjoyed in small pieces.
-Because I will definitely read it again.

Highly recommended to pretty much anyone who is willing to take risks, and who aspires to do anything with depth and dedication.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy. 1443453161 I love following friends on Goodreads who have similar tastes in books to mine. It's always fascinating to see different people's perspectives on books you've read, to see if they love the same ones you do, and if they were as disappointed as the ones which let you down. The potential downside? When it seems as if EVERYONE has read a book that you hadn't even considered, or just haven't gotten to yet. You know what I mean...

My favorite part of Goodreads in December is seeing all of the year end reviews and getting ideas about what to read in the following year and beyond. My goodreads friend Ellie included Colum McCann's Letters to a Young Writer as one of her favorites in her year end review this year. Intrigued and seeing that my library had a copy, I decided to go ahead and read McCann's inspirational advice before the year came to a close. A MFA instructor at Hunter College and author of a number of fiction books including Let the Great World Spin and Transatlantic, McCann has offered take on how a potential author from age fifteen through sixty five can get started on a career. A slim book of advice, humor, and wit, McCann has left me with much food for thought as I move toward the new year ahead.

Another favorite author of mine, Anna Quindlen, has suggested that reading leads to rereading leads to writing. McCann concurs noting that an author in the middle of writing a book should read and read and read some more, both in the genre that he is writing about and all other quality books. McCann quotes Tolstoy's iconic passage in Anna Karenina that all happy families are the same and all unhappy families are unhappy in their own way. He applies this to writing as well noting that all successful authors are the same, whereas unpublished authors are sad in their own way and must find their way in the publishing world. The bulk of this book is McCann's attempt to assist authors on their road to publication from the rough draft to the final first edition. Along the way there will be bumps in the road, but that is par for the course in a literary career.

McCann's work is a chock full of humor as well as practical. One of the best feelings he has had while writing is discarding a manuscript that he spent eighteen months writing. It did not feel right to him so he decided on a whim to let it go and he felt lighter after tearing the paper to shreds. He notes to writers to not rewrite their own family history but recreate the family in a fictional manner, in a way that will make it fun and imaginative to tell the story of a character that is based on one's own family but not completely true either. This will lead to less conflict with one's actual family members along the way and also make an author's work stand out as original writing. I concede that I may be on to something as I attempt to recreate stories in my head constantly so perhaps I am also on the path to writing a novel. As McCann points out, one does not need to be eighteen to write their first novel so it does not hurt to try no matter how old one is.

Letters to a Young Writer is a thin volume full of advice for life, not just writing. It is a book that can be read quickly but should be savored because the writing itself is impeccable and full of uplifting anecdotes. I thank my goodreads friend Ellie for steering me in the direction of reading Colum McCann as he is a new author for me. I look forward to reading one of his novels in the years to come as I am sure it will be a treat to read.

4+ stars 1443453161 It's on a blue moon I read non-fiction and even rarer that I'll pick up a writing or publishing how-to manual or self-help book. I'm trying to read a novel per week and not fall down the rabbit hole of non-fiction. Every day I'm not at the office, I'm writing, at McClain's Coffeehouse in Fullerton, mixing with students who are also working, or others who need to get out of the house and have a cigarette or bite to eat. A young writer friend of mine named Bryan Klose was handed a copy of Letters to a Young Writer, a slim 2017 self-help writing book by Colum McCann, which I picked up and started flipping through while Bryan was pacing around.

McCann grabbed my attention. His chapters strike like lightning and are intended to power the young writer to push through negativity or self-doubt or other common stumbling blocks in order to write. The author offers few specifics about his own life or career, with pithy chapters titled Your First Line, Read Aloud, or Don't Be a Dick.

The book is a lot like a pep rally. Up to ten minutes or so, I was fired up to kill Lincoln High, but as McCann's cheering and positive can-do went on, I started tuning him out. That's no fault of the author's, I just grew tired of what he was doing. Like most self-aware writing instructors, I'm sure he advises the reader to put down the book and go write at one point. I think this is good advice.

Scenes from the pep rally:

-- Good writing will knock the living daylights out of you. Very few people talk about it, but writers have the stamina of world-class athletes. The exhaustion of sitting in one place. The errors. The retrieval. The mental taxation. The dropping of the bucket down into the near-empty well over and over again. Moving a word around a page. Moving it back again. Questioning it. Doubting it. Trying it in bold. Looking at it in italic. Increasing the font size, Spelling it differently. Putting it in another accent. Shifting it around again and again. Single space, double space, justify right and left, go back to single space. Sounding it out. Figuring the best way to leave it alone. Hanging in there as the clock ticks on. Not conceding victory to the negative. Railing against the attractively defeatist. Understanding not only what words are for, but also what words stand against. Getting up off the ground when you've punched yourself to the floor. Dusting yourself off. Readjusting your mouth guard. Sustaining what you have inherited from previous days of work.

-- Writing a character into being is like meeting someone you want to fall in love with. You don't care (yet) about the facts of his/her life. Don't overload us with too much information. Allow that to seep out later. We are attracted by a moment in time--a singular moment of flux or change or collapse--not by grand resumes or curricula vitae. So don't generalize. Be specific. Go granular. The reader must fall in love with your characters quickly (or indeed, learn to hate them quickly). We have to have something happen to them: something that jolts our tired hearts awake. Make it traumatic, make it mournful, make it jubilant, it doesn't matter--just allow your reader to care for the physical body that your words evoke, the person behind the language. Later on in the story we can settle down with them and get to know them in a wider sense.

-- Still, seek out those truths that are not self-evident. The more freedom a writer has, the more she must become a critic of the place she lives. Look around you. Depth begins at home. Find out what is wrong and then begin to write about it, in order to stay away from it. Even if you're creating an elsewhere, you are still writing about what is close to home. You don't owe allegiance to your government. Nor to accepted ideas. But you do owe allegiance to that elusive notion of truth. Elusive, why? Because once you have found it, it has probably already changed into something new, something even more pernicious. There will always be new cruelties to confront. New problems to occupy. In the end writing solves nothing. Be joyful about that. But--at the same time--never forget that it matters. Do I contradict myself? Very well then. I contradict myself. Whitman says we contain multitudes. Joyce says that good writing re-creates life out of life. Who are we to argue with the greats? Just strike the word down on the page. No preaching involved. No sermonizing. No pointless barking at the passing streams. Just earnest endeavor and grit. A true mining of your world. The ability to force yourself into the darkest corner in order to discover something that hasn't yet been said.

Another thing: McCann considers Ulysses by James Joyce the greatest novel ever written and the only music he mentions is And Now the Weather by Colm Mac Con Iomaire. Come on. Give me Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and Love Deluxe by Sade any day. Feel No Pain, Like a Tattoo, Bullet Proof Soul ... Love Deluxe is a writer's LP!

I'd recommend this writing manual to young writers to pick up, leaf through and see how many of the ideas McCann mentions you're already conscious of and doing. Keep doing them. If you're seeking a more instructive autobiography on the writer's life, I would recommend On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King instead. 1443453161 Not a writer, nor do I have plans of becoming one, but this is McCann, the author who has never let me down. Would read anything he wrote. Thought to pick up some insights on his writing and I feel as if that was accomplished. Much of this advice to young writers could be applied to life as well, and certainly to readers.

Considers punctuation a necessity, for those of us decrying the non use of quotation marks in recent fiction. Tells them to research and read, read and read. Loved that, got that part down pat. Loved this quote on the overusing of metaphors,

No more hot tears please. No more milky-white thighs. No more dream sequences. No more blood-red sunsets even. (Cormack McCarthy got them all.) So there is definitely humor in his advice.

Can see where this would be a very useful guide to new authors. Now of he would just hurry and write another fiction book.

ARC from Publisher.
: 1443453161 Audiobook…read by Colum
McCann
….2hours and 38 minutes

I’m a reader…not a writer…
but
after finishing and thoroughly enjoying listening to McCann read this book:
“Letters to a Young Writer”
…..or old farts…
I’ve concluded that part of my reading repertoire must include books on writing — (estimating at least one a year would be wise for me)…
WHY?
Because every time I do read a book on writing….
….”Bird by Bird”, by Anne Lamott
or
….”Writing Down the Bones”, by Natalie Goldberg
or
….”On Writing”, by Stephen King….
etc.
I pick up new insights about the process of writing —in ways that help me be a better reader. (at least a more observant reader).

First…
This was a delightful walking-companion this morning…
McCann helped me add zip to my steps.

“Letters to a Young Writer”, is a light-hearted audio for *BOOK PEOPLE*…
Besides…
Colum McCann has a wonderful - ‘anti-cranky’ voice….
He is generous - humble - and personably candied.

A few basic 101 quickie-tidbits:
[there’s much more]
…..”Who, what, where, when, and why”…..are the fuel for writers.

…..”Research! Google is not enough”.

…..SIT!!! keep sitting… keep writing.

…..READ!!

…..”Life is dark but bring a little flaming joy to the torch”.

…..”Be interested in
any amount of joy”.

…..”Take a break”
go on holiday, take everything you need but leave your notebook behind.

…..”Every once in a while send your editor flowers out of the blue”.

…..Have patience.
After writing… there is editing. Then there’s more editing. Then there is ‘more’ editing again.

…..Beware: Blurbs are literary porn.

Read the great stuff but also read the crappy stuff.

…..”Stories are not about plot they are about rhythm and language and style”.

…..”Make sure the words are yours—but be clear no words are solely your own. We are the voice of many voices”.

…..”Leave the reviews to the reviewer‘s. Don’t believe the good ones or the bad ones… Better yet, don’t read them”.

Personally…
….I’m not looking for serious advice, or instructions…
I’m just an old fart reader who is thankful to writers:
Many are my best friends(but they don’t even know it)…
Writers feed my little brain and soul with life nourishment.
I’m happy there are books for writers to get tips and inspiration—so they can be better writers!
A win-win for us readers, too. 1443453161 Letters to a Young Writer: Some Practical and Philosophical Advice


Why do we tell stories? Why do we have a deep need to tell one another that which is real and invented both? Why do we need to lean across the table, or the fireside, or the fabulously intertwined wires of the Internet, and whisper “Listen”? We do it because we’re sick of reality and we need to create what isn’t yet there.

Colum McCann - Letters To A Young Writer
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Cesar, my 20-year-old son and I have had lengthy discussions about why humans have the need to tell and pass along stories. He believes that science offers perfectly plausible explanations to this question. I, on the other hand, feel more conflicted about it and see something more spiritual and dare I say, divine at play here?

And so, why do we tell stories is one of the questions Colum McCann contemplates in this illuminating selection of essays. He does acknowledge the mysterious nature of the writing process but instead of focusing on the where this need comes from, he directs his attention to the why and for what purpose. For him, storytelling is all about finding ways to fulfill our craving for new, alternative realities.

He encourages writers to be mindful and respectful of this ability and to treat it with respect:

The whole point of good literature is to make newness durable. You are creating alternative time. You are making vivid that which did not exist before. You are not just the clockmaker, but the measure of the clockmaker’s creation. You are shaping past, present, and future. This is quite a responsibility. Respect it.

The Amazing thing about good writing, he says, is that it can find the pulse of the wound without having to inflict the actual violence and We have to understand that language is power, no matter how often power tries to strip us of language.