Inside The Cover
Book Reviews
Review by Lynne Mahan
Becoming a Writer
by Dorothea Brande
First printing: Harcourt, Brace & Company, New York, 1934
J.P. Tarcher, Inc., Los Angeles, 1981
175 pages
Some of the amazing things about this writing how-to book (in addition to the
fact that it was written in 1934) are the techniques used by Brande to
loosen up the writer's creativity. The fact is that, without creativity, a
writer cannot write, so all the technical information in the world cannot unlock
the muse, thus causing the writer discontent. Brande believes "that basis of
[this] discontent was that the difficulties of the average student or amateur
writer begin long before he has come to the place where he can benefit by
technical instruction in story writing." She goes on to say that the frustrated
writer seems to think there is a magic or trade secret that successful writers
have, and she says in a way he is right.
Her target audience includes "those who are fully in earnest, trusting to their
good sense and their intelligence to see to it that they learn the elements of
sentence and paragraph structure, that they already see that when they have
chosen to write they have assumed an obligation toward their reader to write as
well as they are able, that they will have taken every opportunity to study the
masters of English prose writing and that they have set up an exigent standard
for themselves which they work without intermission to attain."
Motivated to write the book by attending one too many technical classes where
the instructors never addressed the magic, Brande breaks the problems down into
four categories; the difficulty of writing at all, the one book author, the
occasional writer, and the uneven writer. She suggests that "we must try to
cure them where they arise-- in the life and attitudes and habits, in the very
character itself." Addressing them one at a time through the lens of character,
she zeros in on the issues and creates exercises to practice.
First, the two sides of the writer, the child and the adult must be discerned in
daily activities. Creativity is the child's world, spontaneous and imaginative,
and the adult is the business manager; first work, then play. Call it left brain
and right brain, or child and adult-- some part of the writer has to dream up
the plan and some part has to execute the plan. Brande gives us hope that they
are both embodied in us and can be recognized and utilized at the right time and
place to reach our writing goals.
As we learn to know ourselves through Brande's exercises, we progress to levels
of writing discipline very similar to Julia Cameron's morning pages and writer's
date. Natalie Goldberg's techniques are similar, as they involve freeing
yourself to write anything without the internal editor, stopping us at every
word to check for accuracy.
Following the exercises religiously frees our creative side (the child) and
honors the adult to provide for the real passion (the writing). Set up a time
for writing. Under no circumstances stand yourself up. If you do, she warns,
"give up writing. Your resistance is actually greater than your desire to write,
and you may as well find some other outlet for your energy early as late."
Her intention here is not to discourage, but to encourage the writer to set up a
time daily to invite the unconscious to come and play. If the child (the
unconscious creative mind) knows it is acceptable to come out every day at eight
in the morning, come it will, and serve until it is put away when the adult must
provide structure so that the child can come another day.
She says simply, "for the root of genius is in the unconscious, not the
conscious, mind. It is not by weighing, balancing, trimming, expanding with
conscious intention, that an excellent piece of art is born. It takes its shape
and has its origin outside the region of the conscious intellect. There is much
that the conscious can do, but it cannot provide you with genius, or with the
talent that is genius' second cousin."
In a way, this simplifies the writing process. Turn it on and turn it off.
Although, when you are a writer, you are writing all the time. But there is a
time to turn the faucet onto the paper, and that is the delicious part of
writing. To see the words you have been nurturing in your unconscious take form
before your eyes.
Brande has several other very practical suggestions. She advises exchanging
coffee for Mate and enjoying a meditation session before your writing
appointment. She also advises to pay attention to the people who encourage your
flow of consciousness and those who do not. If watching television stifles your
creativity, do less of
it (she would advise!). Be aware of what puts you in a creative mindset and what
does not. Be disciplined! "If you are unable to finish a piece of work at one
sitting, make an engagement with yourself to resume work before you rise
from the table. You will find that this acts like a posthypnotic suggestion in
more ways than one. You will get back to the work without delay, and you will
pick up the same note with little difficulty, so that your story will not show
as many different styles as a patchwork quilt when it is done."
I liked this book. I loved this book. The fact that it sat on my bookshelf for
nine years has nothing to do with the book. Had I picked it up sooner, I would
have avoided many pitfalls. Brande's 1934-style prose was a little
difficult to wade through at times, but soon I found myself sitting down with
her for a cup of Mate and discussing my latest writing block...this review!
Dorothea Brande was born in Chicago and later attended Mrs. Starretts' School for
Girls and the University of Chicago, Lewis Institute of Chicago, and the
University of Michigan. She held editorial positions at Chicago Tribune, and the
Board of the Journal of American Medical Association. She taught private writing
classes and lectured throughout the country. Among her other books are Most
Beautiful Lady, a novel, and Wake Up and Live, which sold over 2,000,000 and was
published in eleven languages. (I remember it on my mother's bookshelf.)
According to the National Cyclopedia of American Biography, volume 39, she was a
member of Phi Beta Kappa, an Episcopalian, a Republican, and enjoyed reading,
knitting and embroidery!
I leave you with her words. "All that is necessary to break the spell of
inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail. This is
the talisman, the formula, the command of right-about-face which turns us from
failure towards success."
Buy
the book here.
