One of the Best Book on Writing I Know

A Swim in the Pond, in the Rain, George Saunders

I am away this week looking after one of my granddaughters, so here is a piece about one of the best books on writing EVER!, initially posted on my website in 2020 just as we were coming out of lockdown. Apologies if you’ve read it before.

Hi Everyone,

From tomorrow we can sit outside in our gardens with up to six people. Though if today is anything to go by, we are likely to get soaking wet and freeze to death! No need for despair however, Tuesday's forecast is for sun, so here's hoping that we can once again begin the slow waking from our enforced hibernation.

If we were sitting down together next week in my garden over a coffee or even a glass of wine, I would undoubtedly be telling you how I've just read the best book ever on writing, in particular on writing short fiction: George Saunders, A Swim in the Pond in the Rain

Saunders has been teaching creative writing at Syracuse, USA for twenty years.

He says, 'A few years back, after the end of one class (chalk dust hovering in the autumnal air, old-fashioned radiator clanking in the corner, marching band processing somewhere in the distance, let’s say),' he had the realisation that 'some of the best moments of my life, the moments during which I’ve really felt myself offering something of value to the world, have been spent teaching that Russian class.' In this moment he decides to put down what he knows, what he's learned; to write a book and share with us his love and deep understanding of the stories and their craft.

When you find yourself underlining every other sentence or paragraph, sending What's App messages to your writing Buddy at all hours of the night, you know you are in the presence of genius, albeit humble genius. Saunders is a cool and self-effacing kind of guy. These are just, he claims, 'thoughts according to George.'

Saunders shows us by example what we might do as writers, guiding us through the relationship with our reader and with our own words, the choices we make, the trust we place in our story - the story has a will of its own that we must listen for. And how simple it can all be - 'You don't need an idea to start a short story you just need a sentence.'

For Saunders the focus in his own writing has always been 'trying to learn to write emotionally moving stories that a reader feels compelled to finish.' Stories must be honest, create energy, every element a little 'poem freighted with subtle meaning.' He de-mystifies plot into 'meaningful action,' rejects planning, 'A plan is nice. With a plan, we get to stop thinking. We can just execute. But a conversation doesn't work that way and neither does a work of art. Having an intention and then executing it does not make good art.'

Editing is key; obsessive, repetitive, the application of preference, over months even years...getting to know the voice inside you, what it likes, hearing it and acting on it in the thousands of microdecisions to be made. Saunders asks, 'How long are you willing to work on something to ensure that every bit of it gets infused with some trace of your radical preference? The choosing, the choosing, that's all we've got.'

I could go on and on, but suffice to say if you want to be a better, more aware writer, if you want to be the best writer you can be, you cannot afford NOT to jump into the pond with George.

Thanks for reading and watch this space for news of Short Story Workshops in 2025

Avril x