I recall
in high school an English teacher admonishing we students to invest in Strunk
& White’s The Elements of Style. I ignored her, of course, but years later,
when doing more writing than I ever intended as a teenager, picked up a copy at
a table sale, somewhere, for a quarter.
Thinking to have a laugh, I opened it that night to see what my teacher had
been on about. Soon enough, I was
caught—“Yes, that’s it!” and “They’re completely right!” the
statements coming to my brain time and again reflecting on the problems with my
own writing. Having just finished Jeff
VanderMeer’s 2013 Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating
Imaginative Fiction, I can’t help but imagine that if my high school
teacher had recommended it, my history would have been different.
There are
writing guides and there are writing guides.
Some are for a specific purpose, e.g. Scott Meredith’s poison—ahem,
prescription for mainstream fiction Writing
to Sell, and some are to shore up specific issues a writer may have, such
as David Madden’s Revising Fiction. Threading the tight gap between
horn-rimmed glasses strictness and loose practicality, Wonderbook is, as VanderMeer writes in his intro, a “general guide to the art and craft of fiction
first and foremost, but it is also meant to be a kind of cabinet of curiosities
that stimulates your imagination.” Packed to the gills with gorgeous
illustrations, diagrams, and art (the striking cover is literally only the
beginning) as well as input from a wide range of authors, it aims to be
advisory, illustrative, engaging, insightful, and above all, informative.
Wonderbook covers the spectrum of writing fiction,
from brainstorming to final revision.
There is a slight focus on ‘speculative fiction’ (whatever that
means!!), but as easily operates as a guide to writing fiction in general. One look at the table of contents (inspiration,
elements of story, writing beginnings, middles, and ends, narrative form,
characterization, worldbuilding, revision, and many, many other topics) and
it’s clear the sights are broad. Looking
deeper and it’s also clear Vandermeer is as knowledgeable of the theory of
literature as much as he is a practitioner of it.
Literature
an art, VanderMeer conveys this relationship via not only deft exposition but
also a large number of eclectic diagrams and representative art; Wonderbook is as much a pleasure to read
as look at. Featuring a wide range of
art, the work of Jeremy Zerfoss and “more
than 30 others” is used to convey the finer points of writing in graphic
form. A tiny number of pages are not complemented
by visuals that illustrate the point under discussion in one form or another,
making it clear VanderMeer put as much time into the text as he did the layout
and imagery to create a more holistic view to the craft of writing.
The practicality
of Wonderbook? Can an inspiring writer find anything of
value in the book? The answer is a qualified ‘yes.’ If you are not a self-aware writer, then the
book will not help you. (In fact,
nothing may help you.) Advanced writers
will probably find more enjoyment looking at Wonderbook than applying the theory, and perhaps should look to more
specialized material for the issues they are dealing with. Wonderbook
would thus most benefit the would-be, beginner, and somewhat practiced writer
who still has a lot of holes in their talent (if any exists at all). For those writing critically or academically
about literature, the book offers a baseline for which works under review can
be critiqued and analyzed for technique.
The tools for deeper analysis are hinted at but must be found elsewhere. If all else fails, Wonderbook makes for stunning coffee table reading.
VanderMeer
is not the only contributing writer.
Utilizing the knowledge of friends and colleagues, a wide variety of
authors bring their perspectives to the table.
Ursula Le Guin, Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin, Kim Stanley Robinson,
Nnedi Okorafor, Karen Lord, and several others add essays on world building,
plotting, characterization, exposition, and many other aspects of writing. Along with the illustrations, these writers
make Wonderbook a richer, more varied
experience than just VanderMeer’s view alone.
Suggestions
for writing exercises, clear and lucid description (e.g. the difference between
creative and technical imagination), real-world examples, logical organization,
how to and how not to characterize (“Buying
in to stereotype and cliché about your characters condemns them to act in ways
that are based on false ideas about people in the real world.”), dissective
analysis, questions for the stuck writer to ask themselves, handy reference
(VanderMeer is not shy about recommending not only authors of fiction, but
other helpful writing guides), motivation and support, suggestions for first
readers (avoid the ‘smile fish’—the
reader looking for everything to be happy-happy, fun-fun, or the ‘me-mirror’—the reader who is incapable
of seeing any worldview but their own)—there are myriad significant facets to
Wonderbook. (I would also strongly
advise ignoring me-reviews—reviews by people incapable of seeing beyond their
own expectations. ;)
Reading
VanderMeer’s novels and stories, it’s clear he is a man in control of his
craft; every word exists for purpose where it was placed. And having now read Wonderbook, the reason is clear: he understands the fundamentals of
writing at a deep level. VanderMeer
obviously investing years of time and effort, the result is a book that
wonderfully balances itself between accessibility and technical detail,
practicality and theory, beginner to advanced on how to not just write, but
write with sound technique and engaging ideas.
I cannot go back to high school again, but I can certainly appreciate
this book now…
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