Book Recommendation: How to Be a Writer by David Quantick
How to Be a Writer – Conversations with Writers about Writing came out in 2016, as a sort of companion piece to David Quantick’s previous book How to Write Everything (2014). In his own words, David Quantick is an English “author, movie writer, television writer and radio broadcaster.” He notes that this piece is “a kind of a sequel” to its predecessor (I have not yet read that book, but it’s on my TBR, so perhaps it may find its way into this section). This book provides an insight into the lives of writers to address the question “how to be a writer?”, with several interviews with renowned writers, performers and other related professionals.
How to Be a Writer
In this compilation of conversations, Quantick sheds some light on writers’ lives, taking readers on a journey through the everyday life of different writers, the often chaotic and sometimes bittersweet world of writers and writing. Across twelve interviews, fifteen professionals give their opinions about: routines, editing and editors, (the bastardised profession of) reviewers, writer’s block, juggling professional and personal lives, creative process, admin, and more. The interviewees are as varied as one can get: fiction and non-fiction writers, columnists, scriptwriters, comedians, an accountant, and a literary agent. Nevertheless, this book is far from boring, pretentious, or preachy; it is overall a fun read, filled with dry British humour and wisdom without being a follow-along manual on how to be a writer.
Although Quantick tries to maintain a certain structure with every interview, he is not always successful in his attempt, making the final result much more interesting: the reader feels like a fly on a wall, listening to a conversation between friends or trusted colleagues. Through a mix of advice, honest thought, and anecdotes, Quantick collects different perspectives on what writing is, how to be a writer, and how writers navigate the reality they live in. For instance, many conversations revolve around the multiple facets of this vocation, including the not-so-often discussed challenges, the moments of self-doubt, and the uncertainties that come with the profession.
Across its pages, the author’s own wit and commentary are constantly present, adding even more depth to the topic in discussion. Undeniably, every writer is different, and they all have a distinct approach: there are opposing views on specific topics, which makes the whole book more enriching. It invites the reader to think critically about every opinion and allows them to take what they deem useful or to consider alternatives as a possibility.
A Personal Story
What Makes a Writer?
In the past, talking about writing and what makes a writer made me uneasy for some reason. I still recall one time in class during my first years at university when a professor asked what makes a writer and what qualifies someone as one. Back then, I remember saying something along the lines of that considering a writer anyone who claimed to be one was questionable and problematic: a publishing house needed to publish their work and writing was their profession. That discussion lingered in my mind, and I found myself coming back again to it. As time went by, I became wary of that past statement, and I deemed it incomplete, not fully developed.
Gradually, I became aware of what was amiss: I was only considering a small segment of writers. There were writers everywhere, and not all of them followed the traditional path (or, in some cases, by my younger self’s definition, they only became ‘writers’ after their demise; for example, John Kennedy Toole). How to Be a Writer reminded me of that lecture and my journey to define what a writer truly is.
Blurred Path
Curiously, back then, at the start of my university studies, I was writing a lot more; I was producing and editing a significant amount of material, mostly short stories, some poetry, and reflections. I probably had enough to create at least a couple of books. Every day, almost religiously, I wrote and edited whenever I had time. In hindsight, it is amusing that during this period, I fulfilled one of the most crucial requirements to be a writer according to several writers interviewed in Quantick’s book. However, that’s exactly when I wouldn’t acknowledge that what I was doing was what writers did (and do), and I thought that those actions were insufficient to consider someone a writer.
Almost comically and tragically in equal parts, I lost every one of my writings at the hands of a faulty external drive… I could never recover those files, and I was devastated; a part of me and my writing was gone as if it had never existed. Never again was I able to write as much as I did back then; it felt as if something within me broke, and I suppose my fear of committing to writing, in the chance of losing everything once more, was too great to face and start anew.
Lost and Found
Somehow, reading this book felt healing, and it might be healing for someone else as well. Whether you are a writer looking for inspiration or even a sense of community, or someone interested in being a writer or curious about the ins and outs of this particular profession, I think this book is a great and light-hearted option to begin with. Writing is a lonely endeavour, but it doesn’t mean that writers should feel lonely as a given. As a writer, by reading these interviews, you might find words that resonate or make you realise something you do (or don’t do, for that matter) that you share with other writers. Allow yourself to write and let your creative mind roam, and as Dennis Kelly states in his interview: “there’s no such thing as bad writing, the only bad writing is writing that you don’t do”.
Bonus
While writing this piece, I kept coming back to reread quotes I had highlighted… I cannot think of a better way to recommend and illustrate how much wisdom one can collect from this book than by a selection of those quotes:
What a Writer is
About Editing
About (not) Knowing What One Writes
What’s the Point of Writing?
These were just a small selection of the phrases I took from this book (this picture illustrates the ridiculous number of post-it flags I used while reading it)
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