Alyson Hagy Phone Conference
Our Franklin County Library book club, Eclectic Readers, had a 45-minute phone conference with Alyson Hagy, since we had just read her latest book, Snow Ashes. I had difficulty reading her novel, even though she is an incredibly talented writer. For some reason, she often focuses on, for want of a better term, bodily fluids. I've never been a fan of vividly descriptive repugnant things! Perhaps it is her having been raised in a family with a father as a doctor; perhaps she's used to those kinds of descriptions.
Not wishing to bring that up with her, I chose to ask her two things: First, where in the world did she find the time to write? She teaches at the University of Wyoming, is raising a family, and writes continuously...how?
She laughed and told us she also reads, reads, reads. That her ideal set-up would be to write all morning, then snuggle into a chair and read all afternoon and evening, but that is not...yet...to be. She DOES write mornings, usually 9-noon. Since she teaches at a university, that's hardly a 9-5 kind of job. She can teach a few afternoons a week, and/or evening classes, so she finds it easy to write with that kind of schedule.
My second question was: I find it pretty impossible to write fiction, but do write nonfiction and write humorous pieces based on factual happenings. She said she'd just had a discussion with a very successful writer she knows, about that very subject, and they came to the conclusion that Alyson, having had a childhood that was quite comfortable, without trauma or dramatic change, had to "make up stories," i.e., write fiction. Whereas, someone who has had a lot of interesting experiences, in her childhood and/or after that time, has plenty of material to draw on with no need to create a fictional base.
Thinking along those lines, I DO know authors who have said they wished they'd had more to draw from in writing, but Darn! They'd had too happy an upbringing.
Since my childhood was much like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn except that both parents drank, this sounds very plausible to me.
Not wishing to bring that up with her, I chose to ask her two things: First, where in the world did she find the time to write? She teaches at the University of Wyoming, is raising a family, and writes continuously...how?
She laughed and told us she also reads, reads, reads. That her ideal set-up would be to write all morning, then snuggle into a chair and read all afternoon and evening, but that is not...yet...to be. She DOES write mornings, usually 9-noon. Since she teaches at a university, that's hardly a 9-5 kind of job. She can teach a few afternoons a week, and/or evening classes, so she finds it easy to write with that kind of schedule.
My second question was: I find it pretty impossible to write fiction, but do write nonfiction and write humorous pieces based on factual happenings. She said she'd just had a discussion with a very successful writer she knows, about that very subject, and they came to the conclusion that Alyson, having had a childhood that was quite comfortable, without trauma or dramatic change, had to "make up stories," i.e., write fiction. Whereas, someone who has had a lot of interesting experiences, in her childhood and/or after that time, has plenty of material to draw on with no need to create a fictional base.
Thinking along those lines, I DO know authors who have said they wished they'd had more to draw from in writing, but Darn! They'd had too happy an upbringing.
Since my childhood was much like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn except that both parents drank, this sounds very plausible to me.
posted by Marion | 9:42 PM
4 Comments:
Now I want to know why she focuses on bodily fluids so much.
I don't like to make things up because I find real life strange and story-filled enough.
I love "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" because I always related to it! I grew up in a building just like that. Kelly's middle name is Nolan Frances, a nod to the character Francie Nolan. I was that girl.
I began writing fiction because that's how I fantasized. My stories were never-ending farm stories and I was the girl riding ponies and hauling wood.
I agree! My imagination makes a much better story then even my weird life!
I practically flunked out of school completely because I was either sneaking my own books to read or daydreaming. My imagination was my source for all things good as a child (without any traumatic events to drive me there).
This is where the road must part. I don't always choose the road to fiction though. There is a lot to be said for the amazing truth in non-fiction.
I LOVED "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". I plan on taking my laptop outside this fall if only to type under the trees and daydream!
But when you're in the midst of childhood, you don't know your family is dysfunctional because you have nothing to compare it to.
I still have Allyson's book in my "to be read" stack.
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