Ruralite Cafe: Published 04/18/02

By Lynn Hotaling - Associate Editor

From Byer to King to Keillor to Zuber, diverse writers are an interesing bunch

Not write books, mind you, for I don't have the patience or aptitude for that, but to think about the reasons others do.

In talking to area writers and through reading what other writers say about their books, I've begun to see more similarities than differences.

Stephen King, for example, wrote a whole book because of a remark another writer made to him.

When King was talking with other members of his writers' rock band, the Rock Bottom Remainders (a group formed to entertain at an American Booksellers convention; the writers enjoyed entertaining so much they took their show on the road - and wrote about it), he asked novelist Amy Tan ("The Joy Luck Club") what question she wanted to answer that no one ever asked.

"No one ever asks about the language," she said.

King decided she was right and proceeded to write the only Stephen King book I've ever read - a quiet gem titled "On Writing - A Memoir of the Craft." It's not that I haven't tried to read King's books. In fact, I periodically check one out of the library, read it for awhile, let it get good and overdue, return it and pay the fine.

This odd behavior does not mean King's books are bad but rather that they're too good - they scare me to death, pure and simple.

"On Writing," unlike King's other books, is not at all scary. It's an unassuming volume I bought because of the illustration on the jacket. I'll admit I judged this book by its cover, and I'm glad I did. The autobiographical first section is both nostalgic and funny; subsequent sections take the reader on a journey into the way King writes - the words he chooses and how he tells a story.

Another reason I'm glad I discovered "On Writing" is that my 15-year-old son, who hadn't willingly read a book since he pulled an all-nighter for "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" almost two years ago, picked it up.

"I'm reading that book, but I may only read the funny parts," he said.

"I hate adverbs, and so does Stephen King," he announced a day or two later, by way of letting me know he'd at least read the grammar section.

One thing that stuck in my mind is King's description of how he crafts his tales. Story ideas, he writes, are like fossils - he sees the tip of one and then chips away at it until he reveals the tale.

While reading Zuber's Appalachian novel "Salt," and seeing the layers fall away chapter by chapter as Zuber tells the story of Anna and John Bayley, I remembered King's words. A few weeks later, as Zuber signed my book at City Lights, I asked her about King's book.

She wasn't familiar with "On Writing," but agreed with the concept of story as fossil when I told her King's idea.

Last week I asked Byer what question she'd like to answer that no one ever asked her.

"Well, no one's ever asked me what my favorite word is," she said.

Among Byer's favorites are "stubble," which she described as a "good Anglo-Saxon word," and needlework terms like "lace," "crochet" and "needle."

In addition, Byer said she likes terminology.

"I love the names of wildflowers - 'trillium' is one of my favorites," Byer said. "'Shenandoah' is another, and I like the phrase 'laurel hell.' And what all this means I have no idea."

To try and gain perspective, I went to one of my favorite Internet features, Garrison Keillor's "Writer's Almanac," which he reads on some National Public Radio stations.

While I didn't find the common thread I was looking for, I did find a neat poem by Linda Pastan, whose name I encountered again minutes later on the jacket of Byer's latest poetry collection, "Catching Light."

Leaving the almanac entries, but sure that Garrison would have some wisdom for me somewhere, I visited his Prairie Home Companion web site. On the way to striking literary gold (at least in the context of this column), I stumbled across the other name on the back of "Catching Light," that of U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, who will be a guest on this Saturday's broadcast of Prairie Home Companion.

What I found was a brief essay Keillor wrote three years ago for the Books section of the London Times.

Titled "How I Write," Keillor's piece offers helpful advice.

"It is crucial to put the work in typescript, read it word for word and patch it with a pencil; computer writing tends to be flabby and tone-deaf otherwise."

Here at The Herald, we "patch it" with "edit blue" pens, which have turquoise ink that doesn't photograph, but Garrison's point is a good one.

Moving along, I found these sentences that could have been written by humor columnist Dave Barry (another member of King's rock-and-roll band).

"I don't do research as such. In the comedy field you only need a few facts to get you started, and sometimes it helps if they're wrong."

And finally, Keillor gives us insight into the genesis of his own writing career.

"I've wanted to be a writer since I was a boy, though it seemed an unlikely outcome since I showed no real talent. But I persevered and eventually found my own row to hoe. Ignorance of other writers' work keeps me from discouragement, and I am less well-read than the average bus driver."

Bus drivers must read a lot.

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