A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction

Story Prize winner McCracken (The Souvenir Museum) distills decades of personal experience into 280 idiosyncratic reflections on writing. She eschews rigid, step-by-step advice in favor of “vague broad concepts, digressions, [and] flights of fancy” drawn from her career. Still, a general philosophy emerges that emphasizes writing with total honesty about material one is passionate about—even when others don’t get it (relentless approval-seeking is counterproductive) or when the work is going poorly. As advertised, she’s decidedly nonprescriptive when it comes to other elements of the craft—questions about whether to write every day and when to start drafting are met with assurances that “no process is wrong that leads to a first draft of a book.” While her approach may frustrate those looking for concrete advice, her incisive, witty observations capture important truths about fiction and the complexities of a writer’s relationship to their work (“In first drafts,” she advises, “we write as loving parents to our characters. We want them to make their own interesting mistakes.... In later drafts, we should be unforgiving gods, to do not what’s good for the single character but for the world itself, which is often at direct odds with what’s good for the character”). Writers who feel stuck will be especially energized by McCracken’s eclectic insights. (Dec.)