Deconstructing and Reconstructing the Meaning Behind Words, Part 1
To write well, you must read well. By learning to read with the eyes of a writer, you can develop an understanding of what makes great literature work.
In The Craft of Reading, a course that published author Katie M. Flynn teaches, student writers focus on reading any text with an eye toward how it was constructed to gain comprehension and understanding of what makes great literature work. By exploring a variety of writing techniques, you can better find your writing voice.
One of three required courses in our Certificate Program in Creative Writing, The Craft of Reading highlights novels, short stories and memoirs—from classics to contemporary treasures—for you to analyze and determine what makes them a great work of literature. That being subjective and up for discussion among your classmates, of course.
Katie says: “We explore three texts: Mohsin Hamid’s incredible speculative novel, Exit West; Cathy Park Hong’s hybrid work, both essay collection and memoir, Minor Feelings; and George Saunders’ master class on the short story form, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, which analyzes eight short stories by writers such as Anton Chekhov, Nikolai Gogol and Leo Tolstoy.
“When we think of ‘works of great literature,’ we are often thinking of those texts that are consistently taught in school like The Great Gatsby. And yes, that is a great work! But there are so many incredible works of great literature not dubbed ‘canonical’ that offer us new and compelling perspectives and approaches to story. I like to showcase contemporary greats because I want my students to be engaging with the current moment in literature.”
Building your writing foundation by first reading as a writer is a tenet of the Certificate Program in Creative Writing. So what does that actually mean, and how do our instructors teach this?
“To read as a writer is to engage both with meaning and with craft, to examine how craft choices make meaning,” Katie explains. “We might look, for example, at the choice of perspective in a story or the use of active place, and ask how it informs the story’s themes and commentary. As writers, we can learn from analyzing texts in this manner, expanding our own craft toolkit along the way.”
How reading others’ work inspires a writer’s own voice is then developed through class assignments, discussions and feedback.
“I often have my students write pastiches,” Katie tells me. “A pastiche is a work inspired by the style of another writer. I’ll ask students to identify a few craft choices that they found compelling in a reading. Then I’ll ask them to try out these craft strategies in their own creative work. For example, in Exit West, Hamid uses polysyndeton—the repeated usage of a coordinating conjunction such as and or but—which can create a sense of accumulation or overwhelm. In a pastiche assignment, a student might choose to try out this strategy in their own writing to see the effect it has on readers.”
For example, one of those craft strategies that you read and then try out might be “magical realism.”
“In the most basic of terms, ‘magical realism’ is a literary genre that blends fantastical or supernatural elements into an otherwise realistic setting,” Katie says. “Unlike a work of fantasy, magical realism is largely rooted in the real. The introduction of that fantastical or supernatural element alters the rules of the world and allows for a slight removal from reality. Magical realism has a rich history in Latin American literature in particular, and the approach has been used to speak out against fascism, imperialism and other dark forces. In that new space, the writer is able to deliver powerful social and political commentary.”
In addition to the inspiration derived from the books, poems and articles read, creative writing students also come from many diverse backgrounds. Anyone drawn to writing can find their voice with guidance and experience working on their craft. Our instructors, included!
“As I tell my students,” she affirms, “close, active reading is an essential skill for writers, and no one reads closer and more actively than a teacher. In the classroom, my students regularly inspire me to see beyond the limits of my own interpretation and experience.”
It is said that art imitates life, but what about the possibility of art foreshadowing it when you are trying your own take on genres? Katie’s first novel, The Companions, which was published in early March 2020, has an uncanny parallel to real-time, global events.
“I’ve always been a writer who is most comfortable in the border region between genres,” she admits. “I love character and language-driven literary fiction, but I also love genre fiction that’s driven by plot and world. My first novel, The Companions, walks that line between science fiction and literary fiction. It opens two years into a pandemic with San Francisco residents living under quarantine, or as we came to know it, lockdown. The novel’s release date, March 3, 2020, was eerily timed, as it came about one week before lockdown hit in real life. I love speculative fiction, that intersection between the real and the speculative or magical. Of course, I had no idea how real my novel’s premise would turn out to be while I was writing it.”
Because this take on genre-bending is central to Katie’s work, her most recently published, interlinked collection of short stories, Island Rule, continues in the vein of technology and speculation, drifting increasingly in the direction of literary horror.
“My writing is very much in conversation with the world and the increasing sense of uncertainty, yet I love the catharsis of laughter, even in the face of horror, maybe especially,” Katie divulges. “As my students know, I love talking about the rules of the world. The title itself, Island Rule, is a reference to an ecological theory that suggests that on islands, small, omnivorous animals become bigger while large, carnivorous animals tend to get smaller. Or more generally put: Predators get smaller and prey get bigger. It’s this beautiful power reversal, and you can see it at play throughout the collection. It is a rule of the book’s world."
And that is how you start on the path to hone your craft.
In the next interview in this three-part series, we explore instructor Jorrell Watkins’ take on becoming a better writer. In the third interview of the series with student Edith Friedman, we discuss her experience finding her voice through poetry.
