In his quirky new writing guide, “ A Swim in a Pond in the Rain,” he implores, “God save us from manifestos, even mine… The closest thing to a method I have to offer is this: go forth and do what you please.” George Saunders, also a celebrated fiction writer with an excellent sense of humor, grasps the problem - but not so much that he can resist his own contribution to genre. Try to keep all the good stuff off the page.”) Point being: Successful fiction is too slippery and complex to be reduced to how-to lists. (“In many classic short stories, the real action occurs in the silences. (“When we see a word, we must ask ourselves foremost, ‘What does it mean?’”) In an essay, he mocked the platitudes that infest most lists of writing rules. In a speech, he caricatured the plummy, officious critic delivering high-toned statements of the obvious. If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from, whose fees support independent bookstores.Ībout a decade back, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Colson Whitehead had a nice sideline poking fun at people who make pronouncements about good writing. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
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