Fiction Non-Fiction Pictures

On Becoming a Novelist (1983) by John Gardner and the Art of Fiction

“On some subjects—for instance, writers’ workshops—one is tempted to pull punches or rest satisfied with oversimplified answers; but I’m assuming, as the primary reader of this book, an intensely serious beginning novelist who wants the strict truth (as I perceive it) for his life’s sake, so that he can plan his days of technique, theory, and attitude; and become as quickly and efficiently as possible a master of his craft” (p xxii).

cg fewstonOn Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On Becoming a Novelist (1983) by John Gardner is a book every novelist, amateur or professional, should read (at least three times) to better understand the complete dynamics and responsibility required to become a true novelist who pursues the craft as an art form.

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The great short story writer Raymond Carver, who was a former pupil of Gardner, remembers his teacher telling him at Chico State to “read all the Faulkner you can get your hands on, and then read all of Hemingway to clean the Faulkner out of your system” (p xv).

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John Gardner, American Novelist (1933-1982)

Carver goes on to explain in the book’s Foreword that Gardner represented something deeper than literature when Gardner instructed his university students in creative writing. Carver explains:

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“It was his conviction that if the words in the story were blurred because of the author’s insensitivity, carelessness, or sentimentality, then the story suffered from a tremendous handicap. But there was something even worse and something that must be avoided at all costs: if the words and the sentiments were dishonest, the author was faking it, writing about things he didn’t care about or believe in, then nobody could ever care anything about it.

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“A writer’s values and craft. This is what the man taught and what he stood for, and this is what I’ve kept by me in the years since that brief but all-important time” (p xvii).

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American Novelist Ernest Hemingway in Hong Kong

After reading On Becoming a Novelist for the third time, one begins to see Carver’s point in how Gardner, a true mentor, believed in a novelist having a certain set of values, constitution, and character to undertake a lifetime of writing stories and novels.

In the Preface, Gardner pulls no punches as he elaborates why he wrote this book (which he used as part of his creative writing courses) and to illustrate which kind of writer the book was meant to inspire and instruct.

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CG FEWSTON (2017)

“On some subjects—for instance, writers’ workshops—one is tempted to pull punches or rest satisfied with oversimplified answers; but I’m assuming, as the primary reader of this book, an intensely serious beginning novelist who wants the strict truth (as I perceive it) for his life’s sake, so that he can plan his days of technique, theory, and attitude; and become as quickly and efficiently as possible a master of his craft” (p xxii).

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Baby Thor

What does Gardner mean, then, when he writes that this book is for the “serious beginning novelist”?

“The question becomes easier to answer if the would-be writer means not just ‘someone who can get published’ but ‘a serious novelist,’ that is, a dedicated, uncompromising artist,’” Gardner elaborates, “and not just someone who can publish a story now and then—in other words, if the beginning writer is the kind of person this book is mainly written for” (p 1).

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The book, therefore, is not for the weak hearted and indolent of spirit. The book is for serious novelists who have written each day in the calming shade of obscurity for twenty years in order to improve himself, or herself, in the creation of literature as art. The book is not for those who easily win awards on account of their ideological and political content (judges and editors often feel sympathetic for such writers and, as a result, these judges and editors desire to show their empathy for these writers who vomit onto the page “sob stories” about their identities and troubled past when in fact these writers have barely lived and have not fully experienced life and have done nothing of significance nor importance to warrant a book or even a single essay of non-fiction) and then to have these writers do nothing with their writing careers later on in life is all too familiar. This book is for the true novelist who does not seek acceptance from others nor awards from organizations nor acclaim from the masses but seeks in the lonely, personal struggle the perfection of his, or her, own craft as a higher form of art to add to the overwhelming ocean of literature.

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John Gardner, American Novelist (1933-1982)

“I write for those who desire, not publication at any cost, but publication one can be proud of—serious, honest fiction,” explains Gardner in the Preface, “the kind of novel that readers will find they enjoy reading more than once, the kind of fiction likely to survive. Fine workmanship—art that avoids cheap and easy effects, takes no shortcuts, struggles never to lie even about the most trifling matters (such as which object, precisely, an angry man might pick up to throw at his kitchen wall, or whether a given character would in fact say ‘you aren’t’ or the faintly more assertive ‘you’re not’)—workmanship, in short, that impresses us partly by its painstaking care, gives pleasure and a sense of life’s worth and dignity not only to the reader but to the writer as well. This book is for the beginning novelist who has already figured out that it is far more satisfying to write well than simply to write well enough to get published” (p xxiii).

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Gardner does seem to echo his own life as a writer before being published, which took him longer than most other writers of his generation (Gardner published his first book The Resurrection in 1966 at the age of 33). He understands the frustrations and barriers many novelists live under as they set upon the long, arduous journey of setting words to page to form a story into a worthy book that readers will one day cherish as much as the writer.

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Even Cormac McCarthy wrote and published books (much beloved by critics but not so much by the populous) for three decades before becoming a national sensation with All the Pretty Horses in 1992, and it would take McCarthy another fifteen years to win the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction with his 2006 novel, The Road. (McCarthy’s first book The Orchard Keeper was published in 1965 and won the 1966 William Faulkner Foundation Award for notable first novel.)

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“Spending a lifetime writing novels is hard enough to justify in any case,” writes Gardner, “but spending a lifetime writing novels nobody wants is much harder. If ten or twelve critics praise one’s work and the rest of the world ignores it, it is hard to keep up one’s conviction that the friendly critics are not crackpots. This is not to say that the serious writer should try to write for everyone—try to win the audience both of Saul Bellow and of Stephen King. But if one tries to write for nobody, only for some pure and unearthly ideal of aesthetic perfection, one is apt to lose heart” (p 9).

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Certainly being an aesthete must be a part of being a novelist but Gardner also knows that there is something else a novelist must do, must become if he, or she, wishes to create literature which aspires to the heavenly heights of art and for the novelist to have a successful career writing books and stories people long to read more than once.

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CG FEWSTON reading to son Thor (2016)

“For another kind of novelist the accuracy required is, I think, of a higher order, infinitely more difficult to achieve. This is the novelist who moves like a daemon from one body—one character—to another. Rather than master the tics and oddities of his own being and learn how to present them in an appealing way—and rather than capture other people in the manner of a cunning epigrammist or malicious gossip—he must learn to step outside himself, see and feel things from every human—and inhuman—point of view. He must be able to report, with convincing precision, how the world looks to a child, a young woman, an elderly murderer, or the governor of Utah. He must learn, by staring intently into the dream he dreams over his typewriter, to distinguish the subtlest differences between the speech and feeling of his various characters, himself as impartial and detached as God, giving all human beings their due and acknowledging their frailties. Insofar as he pretends not to private vision but to omniscience, he cannot as a rule, love some of his characters and despise others…

“The beginning novelist who has the gift for inhabiting other lives has perhaps the best chance for success” (p 30).

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Gardner’s advice on the process of becoming a true novelist and on most aspects of the writing process, especially the fundamentals to understanding the Elements of Story (see the chapter: “The Writer’s Nature”) and his thoughts on publication in the chapter “Publication and Survival” lays the absolute, undeniable truth out for the reader to better understand the choices required for someone to give his or her time, energy and life to the sacred calling of being a novelist. No easy task by any means.

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[You might also like to try reading John Gardner’s other books on writing called: On Moral Fiction (1979); The Art of Fiction (1983); and, On Writers and Writing (1994). All are superb and worth several readings.]

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On Becoming a Novelist is neatly and precisely packed with tons of advice, suggestions and some warnings onto every page of this rather short book of only 145 pages, which ends in a chapter titled “Faith,” because all true novelists need to have a little faith.

Keep reading and smiling…

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CG FEWSTON

cg fewston

The American novelist CG FEWSTON has been a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy in Rome (Italy), a Visiting Fellow at Hong Kong’s CityU, & he’s a been member of the Hemingway Society, Americans for the Arts, PEN America, Club Med, & the Royal Society of Literature. He’s also a been Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) based in London. He’s the author of several short stories and novels. His works include A Fathers Son (2005), The New America: A Collection (2007), The Mystics Smile ~ A Play in 3 Acts (2007), Vanity of Vanities (2011), A Time to Love in Tehran (2015), Little Hometown, America (2020); A Time to Forget in East Berlin (2022), and Conquergood & the Center of the Intelligible Mystery of Being (2023).

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He has a B.A. in English, an M.Ed. in Higher Education Leadership (honors), an M.A. in Literature (honors), and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing & Fiction. He was born in Texas in 1979.

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cg fewston

Conquergood & the Center of the Intelligible Mystery of Being is a captivating new dystopian science fiction novel by CG Fewston, an author already making a name for himself with his thought-provoking work. Set in the year 2183, Conquergood is set in a world where one company, Korporation, reigns supreme and has obtained world peace, through oppression... The world-building in the novel is remarkable. Fewston has created a believable and authentic post-apocalyptic society with technological wonders and thought-provoking societal issues. The relevance of the themes to the state of the world today adds an extra wrinkle and makes the story even more compelling.”

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cg fewston

“A spellbinding tale of love and espionage set under the looming shadow of the Berlin Wall in 1975… A mesmerising read full of charged eroticism.”

Ian Skewis, Associate Editor for Bloodhound Books, & author of best-selling novel A Murder of Crows (2017)  

“An engrossing story of clandestine espionage… a testament to the lifestyle encountered in East Berlin at the height of the Cold War.”

“There is no better way for readers interested in Germany’s history and the dilemma and cultures of the two Berlins to absorb this information than in a novel such as this, which captures the microcosm of two individuals’ love, relationship, and options and expands them against the blossoming dilemmas of a nation divided.”

~ D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

A Time to Forget in East Berlin is a dream-like interlude of love and passion in the paranoid and violent life of a Cold War spy. The meticulous research is evident on every page, and Fewston’s elegant prose, reminiscent of novels from a bygone era, enhances the sensation that this is a book firmly rooted in another time.”

~ Matthew Harffy, prolific writer & best-selling historical fiction author of the “Bernicia Chronicles” series

“Vivid, nuanced, and poetic…” “Fewston avoids familiar plot elements of espionage fiction, and he is excellent when it comes to emotional precision and form while crafting his varied cast of characters.” “There’s a lot to absorb in this book of hefty psychological and philosophical observations and insights, but the reader who stays committed will be greatly rewarded.”

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GOLD Winner in the 2020 Human Relations Indie Book Awards for Contemporary Realistic Fiction

FINALIST in the SOUTHWEST REGIONAL FICTION category of the 14th Annual National Indie Excellence 2020 Awards (NIEA)

“Readers of The Catcher in the Rye and similar stories will relish the astute, critical inspection of life that makes Little Hometown, America a compelling snapshot of contemporary American life and culture.”

“Fewston employs a literary device called a ‘frame narrative’ which may be less familiar to some, but allows for a picture-in-picture result (to use a photographic term). Snapshots of stories appear as parts of other stories, with the introductory story serving as a backdrop for a series of shorter stories that lead readers into each, dovetailing and connecting in intricate ways.”

~ D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“The American novelist CG FEWSTON tells a satisfying tale, bolstered by psychology and far-ranging philosophy, calling upon Joseph Campbell, J. D. Salinger, the King James Bible, and Othello.”

“In this way, the author lends intellectual heft to a family story, exploring the ‘purity’ of art, the ‘corrupting’ influences of publishing, the solitary artist, and the messy interconnectedness of human relationships.”

“Fewston’s lyrical, nostalgia-steeped story is told from the perspective of a 40-year-old man gazing back on events from his 1980s Texas childhood…. the narrator movingly conveys and interprets the greater meanings behind childhood memories.”

“The novel’s focus on formative childhood moments is familiar… the narrator’s lived experiences come across as wholly personal, deeply felt, and visceral.”

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cg fewston

American Novelist CG FEWSTON

 

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This is my good friend, Nicolasa (Nico) Murillo, CRC, who is a professional chef & a wellness mentor. I’ve known her since childhood & I’m honored to share her story with you. In life, we all have ups & downs, some far more extreme than others. Much like in Canada, in America, the legalization of marijuana has become a national movement, which includes safe & legal access to cannabis (marijuana) for therapeutic use & research for all.

“This is a wellness movement,” Nico explains. The wellness movement is focused on three specific areas: information, encouragement, & accountability.

In these stressful & unprecedented times, it makes good sense to promote & encourage the state or condition of being in good physical & mental health.

To learn more you can visit: Americans For Safe Access & Texans for Safe Access, ASA (if you are in Texas).

The mission of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis (marijuana) for therapeutic use and research.

Link: https://www.safeaccessnow.org/

TEXANS FOR SAFE ACCESS ~ share the mission of their national organization, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), which is to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis (marijuana) for therapeutic use and research, for all Texans.

Link: https://txsafeaccess.org/about-1

Stay safe & stay happy. God bless.

 

Nico Murillo Bio ~ Americans & Texans for Safe Access ~ Medical Cannabis

 

 

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