Writing Advice from Norman Mailer

Famously Norman Mailer spent his life attempting to the write the great American novel. In truth, he came closer than most, publishing over 30 books and winning the Pulitzer prize twice. Here are some writing tips from him.
"Most young writers say the same things different ways. You have to choose the best."

Make a firm commitment to your work: "Over the years, I've found one rule. It is the only one I give on those occasions when I talk about writing. A simple rule. If you tell yourself you are going to be at your desk tomorrow, you are by that declaration asking your unconscious to prepare the material. You are, in effect, contracting to pick up such valuables at a given time. Count on me, you are saying to a few forces below: I will be there to write." (Mailer writing in The Spooky Art: Some Thoughts on Writing, Random House, 2003)

Treat facts like an art form: "For me there is very little difference between fiction and non-fiction. I can't bear non-fiction unless it reads like fiction. By which I mean there's a sense of presence, you create a atmosphere, the people are as real in their characters as they are novels…and the story is given to you, which is one of the great benefit of non fiction." (Speaking to Charlie Rose, 2007)

Be controversial: "Look, most writers who are timid are afraid of pissing people off, because they feel they'll lose part of their audience. My feeling has always been that one mustn't be afraid of that. It's much better to write with the notion that if you're good enough, you can change people's lives. That's one of the powerful motives of writing, to feel that you've enlarged other people's consciousness. And the way you do that is you open their minds. Now that can be painful and irritating and annoying or worse for people, but you can't look back." (From Entertainment Weekly, promoting The Castle in the Forest in 2007)

Don't be confined by one particular style: "One of my basic notions for a long, long time is that there is this mysterious mountain out there called reality. We novelists are always trying to climb it. We are mountaineers, and the question is, Which face do you attack? Different  faces call for different approaches, and some demand a knotty and convoluted  interior style. Others demand great simplicity. The point is that style is an attack on the nature of reality. " (From an interview with  Andrew O'Hagan in The Paris Review, 2007)
Know when your work is done: "When I read it, I don't wince, which is all I ever ask for a book I write." (Mailer reflecting on Tough Guys Don't Dance in the New York Times in 1984)

More tips here

ANA Calls...

The Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) has announced that it is accepting entries for its 2011 annual literary prizes. A release from the body said both home-based Nigerian writers and those in the Diaspora interested in entering their new works should start sending same for verification now.

Interested participants are to submit six copies of their entries with a cover letter specifying the category being entered for. The entries should reach the ANA secretariat on or before Thursday, March 31.

The entries should not have been entered before and must be works published between 2010 and 2011.The association said that it would not be responsible for entries sent by post nor will it claim registered parcels in cases where it has to pay for such claims. More info here

Language Dilemma

It started with a debate with a friend. License and Licence, which one is British and which is American? Okay, here it is: all in my (British) English language trained mind, I thought Licence with the ‘c’ was American and the other was British. It’s the other way round.

Now, I don’t underestimate my dictionary. I pick it whenever I am unsure of the spelling or usage of a word. That’s just by the way. The debate went into other things. What language should one write in? Your mother tongue which many scarcely understand? English language which itself presents its own challenges? Many people think in English language and don’t trust themselves when it comes to using the language creatively? You need to read a Morrison or an Achebe…Morrison recreates language; she makes it her own…she laces her words with music and symbols that make them look different. Achebe ‘Igbolises’ his words, lasing them with native proverbs and wise sayings. He uses the master’s language to free himself. You literally think that you are hearing English read to you in Igbo. 

There are many varieties of language. Your native language, English language, there is pidgin, there is the new ‘internet language’ exactly what should a writer use to write? Should you just write in a tongue you are comfortable with?

NB. There was the debate, uproar which started with Adaobi Nwaubani’s article. Several have responded. You can enjoy the debates. 

Molara Wood

Kinna Reads

Chiezolona Eze

Nigerian's Talk

A Tunaina

On Poetry...

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute.  We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race.  And the human race is filled with passion.  And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life.  But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."  Dead Poet's Society

So you tell me: Why do you read poetry?

"If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold, no fire can ever warm me I know that is poetry. If I feel physically the top of my head is taken off I know that is poetry. These are the  only ways I know it. Is there any other way." Emily Dickinson

When you encounter poetry how do you do? Is it like music that is "all around us and all you have to do is listen" as said in August Rush, the movie? Do you get swept off your feet like you just found new love? Does it give you a rush in your head, goosebumps on your skin?

The worth of a Dictionary

The dictionary is a writer’s Bible. It is to a writer what the hoe is to the farmer, well for those farmers who still use hoes. Just like the farmers, hoes can be found in modern forms now, the dictionary does not necessarily have to be a huge dusty book opened once in a while, it can be carried around, on a computer, on a phone. The dictionary can end many literary debates. It can strengthen a writer’s vocabulary. It can enrich his or her flexibility with words. (Whatever that means! Go figure in your dictionary)

If you don’t have one now, get one!

What is Poetry?

There have been diverse definitions of poetry. Poetry itself is not static; it keeps changing daily, attaining new forms. Here are some definitions of poetry from the masters. Now, you tell us, in your own words what you think poetry is. Here are some things some writers think:

“Poetry is the best words in the best order.” ST Coleridge

“Poetry is the spontaneous outflow of powerful feelings.”


"Poetry is just the evidence of life.  If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash."  ~Leonard Cohen

"Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary."  ~Kahlil Gibran

"Ink runs from the corners of my mouth
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry."
~Mark Strand, "Eating Poetry," Reasons for Moving, 1968

“Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.”--Aristotle

"There's no money in poetry, but then there's no poetry in money, either."  ~Robert Graves, 1962 interview on BBC-TV, based on a very similar statement he overheard around 1955

"Poetry is what gets lost in translation."  ~Robert Frost

"Imaginary gardens with real toads in them."  ~Marianne Moore's definition of poetry

"A poem is never finished, only abandoned."  ~Paul Valéry


Happy new month people. Now tell us: what is poetry? Or share your favourite poetry quote.

Have a great March. May you march successfully over those deadlines :-)

The Battle: Writers and Critics

Last day in February! How did it go? Any plans for March?

When writers finish writing, the work is no longer theirs. I think. It now belongs first to the publisher, for polishing, shredding and sending to the public. Then, the critics, those awful looking creatures begin to tear your baby apart…into unknown pieces. They begin to say awful things about your baby that you nurtured in the sacredness of your room, nights of lost sleep. They begin to say things you never intended.

We do not have any nice words for you. It is no longer yours! It only has your name on it. The only rights you have to it are those that come from royalties. The possession that exists now is not that of a mother’s love for a child. It is a love you need not cling closely to...that's if you don't want to be hurt! 

When writers come out and take critics up…it baffles me. Do you think your work is perfect? Besides everyone will say different things about your work…will you go around responding to every negative comment. Then, where will you have the time to write. Oh, I forget you have your publicist. And I also forget many writers don't write for critics, they write for people ;)

In some corners, it is thought that critics should stick with certain standards before criticizing works. Standards like: what elements does the story exhibit? What does the writer set out to do? Was the purpose of the writing achieved? Some even suggest the use of literary theories like realism, Marxism, post-colonialism, etc. as measures…they only forget that every judgement however critical it attempts to look is a bias, a preference. Thus emphasizing the Roman proverb “there is no arguing about taste.” And oh yes this one, many critics buy books with their money and think they are free to write whatsoever they want because hey, it was their money that bought it. If they didn't enjoy the work, they'd say. However. 

Thus begins the battle. The fighters: writers and critics. The battlefield: The text. The weapons: words, hurled left, right and centre. 

What do you think?