Talking about the transition from writing plays and short stories to writing novels, she said:
"With short stories, I begin with the most fleeting ideas. I generally write them in an afternoon - or maybe in two sittings, for the longer ones, the ones that are five or six thousand words."
As someone who has been working on one short story on and off for two years and has just submitted another after six months, I was amazed and stupidly jealous. When I read that Nick Cave dashed off his novel in two or three months (and then presumably had an editor clean it up), I'm unimpressed. Fast work is just as often laziness as genius. But Kalinda's stories are fantastically polished. Colour me green.
I identify more with the method (though not the talent, obvs) of virtuosic short fiction talent Wells Tower, who reportedly drafts his stories 30 times. Looking forward to seeing him at the festival this weekend, too ...
11 comments:
Good Lord. Now I am buying Danger Game for sure.
I do like this little sidebar reviewing thing with the book we are trying not to judge by its cover. Good on you for at least opening it, I can't bring myself to go that far.
I gorged on Steve Cummings' bio the other night instead. Which was bucketloads of sardonic, scribblish fun, full of gentle ridicule and underwhelming panache. Much nicer than custardy profiteroles. And probably true, into the bargain. Mr Gudinski must be glowering somewhere.
Oh, Danger Game is fantastic. I just LOVED it.
Yes, I have to admit I haven't perservered with THAT book beyond the first chapter. It is sheer perversity (and not of the kind intended with this book) driving me forward though.
Steve Cummings' bio is great, isn't it? I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I'd never heard of him before. Always a good sign ...
Never heard of Mr C? I had two friends at school who positively swooned over him when he was a lad. Which is a long time ago now. Funny, dry little book he's done. I will have to peep at his novels now I guess.
It'd be good to ask Kalinda, (and I think I will when she comes into the bookstore I work in again - she comes in every two weeks or so) but I suspect that what she means is that she puts down her rough draft in two days, and then spends a few days or weeks polishing the piece up. Perhaps she has indeed written a drafted, polished 5,000 word short story in a day or two, but I doubt that it is her standard deal. Anyone that knows the layering and fine-tuning, the subtle calibrations of effects and developments of characters and their inter-elationships in a story, can't really take this kind of thing at face value. Then again, maybe Kalinda is a superwoman and we'll be seeing five collections of stories before the year is out. I'd go with what Wells Tower says about the process. And for what it's worth, I think 'Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned' is the best collection of stories of the last decade. But yeah, I'll ask Kalinda the next time I see her and get back to you on that one.
A.S., I think you're probably right - but I'm still impressed. When I think about it, I figure she meant that she finishes an acceptable first draft in an afternoon, or two if it's 5-6000 words. Still pretty good.
But please ... do ask her and come back to let me know!
Well, I asked Wells Tower today how long it took him to get through his many drafts, and he said sometimes as long as six months, but he's happy when he can get one done in three months. So I think you're doing well Ariel, if your time frame is the same as this master of the short form. I'll have a roundup of the event tomorrow on my blog if you want to catch it. I think I might explore the idea of process as well since you've already got me thinking about it. Cheers.
Hey, A.S., I must have been in the room with you - see my round-up too. I enjoyed reading yours. (And you got a photo, too!)
Looking forward to reading you on process.
I think Cate Kennedy and Krissy Kneen were in the room as well. And who knows how many other paths crossed in that room? More Wells Tower photos coming soon. I'm in the process... so to speak.
So Kalinda came into the store today Ariel, and we talked about books and writing. Eventually I remembered to ask her the question. I think you might still feel a little green, because it does seem she's pretty quick. Just another one or two sessions following her first draft. But then she doesn't write another story for six or more months even though she would like to. I suggested that maybe that's her period of story gestation. She shrugged in reply.
Yup, still green ... thanks for the fact-finding mission!
Amazing the gap between that and the Wells Tower approach. I guess some writers are instinctual and others are craftsmen (and women). With a lot of variation in between.
If you're still a little green Ariel, I think this will help. Amanda Lohrey came into the store yesterday and we talked about writing. I mentioned how well crafted I thought her story 'Buddha at Blues Point' was (published recently in Overland) and she was thrilled that I'd noticed. 'You wouldn't believe how much time went into that story,' she said.
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