Talking about writing in the warm sun

My writer friends Laurie and Larisa sat with me in the bright sunshine this morning, sipping coffees at Barnes and Noble and talking about our writing. Larisa brought a chapter from her novel, "The Gender Game," for us to workshop, and Laurie brought wisdom from the mouth of Richard Ford, whose career includes the first book to win both a Pulitzer and a Pen/Faulkner Award. (The link comes from Powell's, the great independent bookstore in Portland that covers a full city block with four floors of books new and used.) Ford talked at Texas State yesterday, but the Q&A afterward for students that Laurie peeked into gave him his best opportunity to tell how to make fiction happen.

Ford writes longhand, a point that made me smile; I bought another fountain pen last week, so I could write slower on first draft, from Pen City, the greatest resource for writing instruments and ink. Ford reads everything aloud, another fundamental. But on that Powell's interview link there's a story about him reading 700 pages of a manuscript aloud, twice through, to his wife. Permit yourself the freedom to pursue excellence, he said. At 61, he's had time enough to achieve that over and over. The service of a dedicated spouse who'll listen to a 700-page manuscript must really help. I have a lot of spirited support from Abby, who I have probably read 700 pages to over the last 10 years. Thanks, honey.

We talked about Larisa's plot and character revelations, pushing ideas both good and hair-brained at her like a couple of fledgling psychologists. I put sunblock on my forehead while the March day rolled past 75, and I squinted a lot while I faced the sun, but enjoyed the white light off my notebook while I wrote down what Ford said. Texas State has passed on both me and Laurie for its MFA writing program, but that doesn't mean we can't still be learning about writing from its program.

Near the end of our gathering we looked at a little scene I'd composed for Viral Times, my long-term novel project. I have my best chance at simple language in my first drafts. I've got a blog on the project, a place to publish the raw material before I do all my reading aloud.