George Saunders: what writers do when they write (2017) • Hacker News Board

Re: George Saunders: what writers do when they write (2017)

#11

Post by jeffwass » Mon, Dec 06, 2021, 1:55 AM UTC

beej71 wrote: post #7

I've always wanted to write fiction but have always been stumped because my plot ideas all sound lame to me. Reading this was inspirational.

Just go for it! Maybe it’s not so lame as you think.

Or take inspiration from the author’s epiphany mentioned in the first paragraph :

“I carried that image around for the next 20-odd years, too scared to try something that seemed so profound, and then finally, in 2012, noticing that I wasn’t getting any younger, not wanting to be the guy whose own gravestone would read “Afraid to Embark on Scary Artistic Project He Desperately Longed to Attempt”, decided to take a run at it, in exploratory fashion, no commitments.”

Re: George Saunders: what writers do when they write (2017)

#12

Post by vladgiverts » Mon, Dec 06, 2021, 6:19 AM UTC

> But there is something wonderful in watching a figure emerge from the stone unsummoned, feeling the presence of something within you, the writer, and also beyond you – something consistent, wilful, and benevolent, that seems to have a plan, which seems to be: to lead you to your own higher ground.

As a student of spiritual work, it sounds like the author is pointing to an actual felt experience. It’s very much possible (and common among serious inner-work students) to dis-identify from our usual sense of self and instead feel a “presence” or a sense of “being”, where our body takes actions without us a experiencing ourselves as the “doer” of those actions. It’s as if the universe (or God for the religiously inclined) is acting through us and we are simply a field of awareness that happens to include the body and mind and our whole nervous system.

Re: George Saunders: what writers do when they write (2017)

#13

Post by maroonblazer » Tue, Dec 07, 2021, 2:16 PM UTC

nnlsoccer wrote: post #10

50 wrote: post #9

Saunders released a new book at the start of the year which I've been meaning to pick up: titled A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life [1], it's like a creative writing class centered around the Russian short story taught by Saunders. 1. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/53487237-a-swim-in-a-...

Definitely pick it up. One of the more unexpectedly profound books I’ve ever read. His tactics for dissecting stories are relevant far beyond just writing. He also somehow manages to hit the right tone while exploring the short stories, engaging the reader on complex topics while simultaneously not becoming boring or pedantic

Do I need to first read the Russian short stories before picking up the Saunders book?