I’m still making my way through the book On Writing Well by William Zinsser (and still recommending it). He’s getting into specific forms of writing now – the interview, travel writing, memoirs, etc.
I just finished the interview section and it only emphasizes one of the things I realized about Didion’s writing (and I’ve said it before) – she did the work. And that meant talking to people as part of the process. It’s opening my eyes a bit too to this aspect of writing. One of my complaints about leaving social media is that I used to get so many ideas from it, and now that well has run dry.
But here I am, surrounded by fascinating people. Ordinary people, but with so many stories and so many backgrounds. And I think that maybe I can give it a shot too. If one of my complaints about social media is its plastic fakery – its inauthenticity – then what could be better than talking to real people and learning their stories? I can’t say that I could do their lives justice if I were to write anything from what I learn, but I also can’t think of a much more worthwhile endeavor.
But there’s more inspiration ahead too. On Writing Well has introduced me to another writer who is absolutely masterful with the interview – Joseph Mitchell.
Mitchell wrote for the New Yorker through a good portion of the twentieth century, and he was an absolute artist when it came to painting word portraits of the people to whom he spoke (and unfortunately, I’ve read, with some embellishment). I’ve just started a collection of his works called Up in the Old Hotel and Other Stories, and I can tell already his ability to take real people – ordinary people – and tell their stories in such a fascinating way is breathtaking. I’m a lover of history, and any time I can read something that brings it so much life, I’m thrilled. It’s a talent that I believe is priceless. As I read, I’m fascinated by the people of “McSorley’s Wonderful Saloon,” (established in 1854, Mitchell wrote of it in 1940, and it still exists at the same Manhattan address today) as though I’m there with them; and I love the character of “Mazie,” a tough woman of the Bowery with a soft heart who sold tickets at the theater she and her sisters owned while caring for the district’s poor and homeless.
I’m only two stories in and I know already that I have much to learn from Mitchell’s writing. This is something to be studied as much as enjoyed.
Zinsser’s book has already given me Didion and Mitchell and there’s quite a bit of reading left. I’m looking forward to more discovery as I get through the rest.