{"id":11253,"date":"2024-05-02T12:00:28","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T12:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2024\/05\/02\/writing-advice-story-construction-voice-steve-almond\/"},"modified":"2025-03-02T17:32:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T17:32:24","slug":"writing-advice-story-construction-voice-steve-almond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2024\/05\/02\/writing-advice-story-construction-voice-steve-almond\/","title":{"rendered":"How to stop “performing” and write as only you can write"},"content":{"rendered":" \n
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Steve Almond has lived many lives in pursuit of his most elusive dream: publishing a novel. He\u2019s been an investigative journalist, tortured poet and author. Before he published \u201cAll the Secrets of the World\u201d<\/a> in 2022, he worked on five fiction manuscripts that did not find a public audience. For 30 years, he has published works of fiction and non-fiction<\/a> and taught writing. He currently teaches narrative non-fiction writing at the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, a course I attended as a 2023 Nieman Fellow.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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The results of his efforts are described in his latest book, \u201cTruth Is The Arrow, Mercy Is The Bow: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories.\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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\""Truth<\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div> \n
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In it, Almond tackles many topics. Some are standard (character development, chronology). Others feel distinctly Almond (sex scenes, creative entitlement). Punctuated throughout are Almond\u2019s experiences as a son, brother and father. While he draws from other writers, Almond takes almost masochistic delight in plumbing the depths of his own failures to illustrate different points about writing and creative decision making. Perhaps it\u2019s his way of redeeming himself. And he understands that writing is an act of subjectivity: He wants to be honest about how he\u2019s made his way.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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When I asked Almond, after publishing his book, if he likes talking about his failures, he said he prefers it to \u201ctooting his own horn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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\u201cI\u2019m not interested in the social media posts that are like, \u2018Look at this beautiful sunset. Look at this beautiful family. I finished my book. I got a big award.\u2019 I personally can\u2019t really participate in that other than by being envious or skeptical,\u201d he told me. \u201cBut if somebody tells me they\u2019re struggling or they screwed something up or they\u2019re feeling doubt or uncertainty, I can participate in that all day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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While Almond offers tips for all kinds of writers, here is his most useful advice for journalists and writers of narrative non-fiction, gleaned from his book and our conversation.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Drop the performance<\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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Vanity is often the root cause of the ailments that afflict creatives, whether that\u2019s writer\u2019s block, overwrought metaphors or run-on sentences.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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\u201cAll bad decisions at the keyboard arise from insecurity,\u201d Almond writes in \u201cTruth Is The Arrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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When self-doubt creeps in, writers begin making decisions to soothe their ego rather than to serve the story. Instead of having a crystal-clear idea of whom they are writing about, what motivates them, what sabotages them and if they can be redeemed, writers shackled by insecurity wind up overthinking their position in the universe of other writers. Almond writes that they become mired in self-serving questions like \u2018Will this metaphor impress the reader? Am I smart enough to pull this off? Funny enough? Deep enough?\u2019<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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When you begin performing for the reader, or other writers, the story suffers. And when you publish, the universe of writers escalates in noise but it doesn\u2019t gain dimension.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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There is much to gain when you drop the facade of \u201cSerious Investigative Journalist\u201d or \u201cGreat Chronicler Of The Human Condition.\u201d Instead of miming other writers, you can become something no one else can fully ape: yourself.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Steve Almond<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div> \n
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\u201cVoice is what emerges when you stop performing,\u201d writes Almond. It\u2019s \u201cwhen your voice on the page flows from your voice off the page, its particular rhythms and vernacular and sensibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Ideas, too, flow when you aren\u2019t trying to mirror the work of others.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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When you catch yourself preoccupied by what kind of article or book you should<\/em> be writing, Almond writes that a more useful question to ask is What kind of article or book do I want<\/strong> to write?<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Real curiosity and excitement lead to better questions, deeper inquiry and a richer story.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Own your writing decisions<\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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In the Q&A section of his book, Almond admits he avoids telling people he is a writer. He prefers focusing instead on what he does. To that end, the term \u201cword decider\u201d feels more appropriate to him.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Almond\u2019s preferred title underscores the fact that everything that shows up on the page or the screen is a personal choice made by the writer.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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\u201cWriting is decision-making,\u201d he says in his book. \u201cWhat word? Where to place the comma? How to shape the paragraph? Which characters to undress and in what manner? It\u2019s relentless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Take chronology, for example. In his chapter on chronology, Almond poses two crucial and related questions for writers:<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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  1. Where, in the larger flow of events, have I chosen to enter the story?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. How did my central character arrive at this moment, and what\u2019s at stake for her?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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    The same is true for characterization. Whether it\u2019s indirect or direct, the facts we include in the description of a character, their life and their actions is a choice.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    Almond goes even further, at one point, to say that storytelling is an act of seizure. When you write, you seize the right to share with the world your version of something that took place.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    So make your writing decisions with intention. Whether you\u2019ve decided to start a story with a childhood memory of the main character, or you\u2019ve decided to include a description of how she styles her hair, it should be done with a purpose that feels obvious to the reader.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    If you\u2019re the one driving the story bus, set a course for an unforgettable destination, and invite the reader to join you by sharing the route you\u2019re taking.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    Tap into mercy<\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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    Most journalists and non-fiction writers can develop the skills to address the who, what, when, and where of a story. But often the trickiest question to answer is \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    Answering the \u201cwhy\u201d of a story requires us to locate the motives of people we may not know or like.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    It\u2019s common<\/a> to hear calls<\/a> for empathy<\/a> in journalism<\/a>, which Lauren Kessler described in Nieman Storyboard in 2022, as \u201cthe ongoing challenge to try to understand another person\u2019s point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    But the word \u201cempathy\u201d only makes one appearance in Almond\u2019s book. To him, the engine that powers understanding others is love. Love is expressed through writing when writers tap into mercy \u2014 to not just attempt to understand why someone acts a certain way, but to avoid issuing a verdict.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    Almond is quick to clarify that writing mercifully doesn\u2019t mean that you can\u2019t arbitrate the truth of what someone has said. It also doesn\u2019t mean that you grant your subjects moral absolution.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    \u201cMercy is the bow and truth is the arrow,\u201d Almond told me, echoing his book\u2019s title. \u201cYour intention is to travel as far into the truth as you can, which requires withholding judgment.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    \u201cThat\u2019s the best kind of journalism people can do,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not designed to agitate or provoke or dig you deeper into whatever your dogma is. It\u2019s actually supposed to morally complicate your worldview and make you feel like the person next to you has a rich, complex inner life that has something to do with yours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    Documenting the lives of your subjects requires a commitment to telling the truth about them, Almond writes. And, he asks, \u201cIs (your) compulsion to tell the truth stronger than (your) fear of the consequences?\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    Telling the truth mercifully might require you to spend time understanding a person your readers disdain. In his book, Almond shares one of his favorite stories of how the novelist Claire Messud<\/a> responded to a critic of her work. At the center of her 2014 novel, \u201cThe Woman Upstairs,\u201d Messud constructed a bitter and furious protagonist named Nora. When Messud was asked by a critic if she would want to be friends with Nora, Messud dismissed the idea outright<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    \u201cIf you\u2019re reading to find friends, you\u2019re in deep trouble,\u201d Messud said. \u201cWe read to find life, in all its possibilities. The relevant question isn\u2019t \u2018Is this a potential friend for me?\u2019 But \u2018Is this character alive?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    Messud\u2019s story is a reminder, Almond writes, that your job isn\u2019t to coddle your subjects or to present them in the most flattering light. It is to \u201cwitness and interrogate\u201d who they are and what they do. Only then can you understand the \u201cwhy\u201d at the heart of their story.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    * * *<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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    Ruth Tam<\/strong> is a writer, illustrator and podcast host. A 2023 Nieman Fellow, her work has been published by NPR, The Washington Post and The New Yorker.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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