Bob's Write from the Start: 2021 Reading for a Desert Island

Bob's Write from the Start

Bob’s Write from the Start, a blog sharing the roller coaster ride of this renewing writer’s feelings and actual experiences, began March 2017. That January, I began with a two-sentence contribution to a local Writing Group. I am now a Guest Columnist for a local paper and have contributed to small and online magazines. My comments for new and renewing writers? Start by starting. Join a writing group. You are unique but not alone. Once you start work, you will not be in Kansas anymore.

Thursday, December 31, 2020

2021 Reading for a Desert Island

I am consistently discombobulated as I read reviews and comments from others about how much they enjoyed this or that pile of new novels. Personally, I have managed two or three newish books, including Phyllis Humby's Old Broad Road, which is not only enjoyable but welcome and needed instruction for me as an apprentice writer in the art of narrative flow.

For me, if I could only take one book to a desert island this year, Alice Munro’s The Love of a Good Woman would be on my short-short list. 1998. Not even remotely newish. But compelling.

In this collection of short stories, she demonstrates her ability to tell interesting stories with incredible humanity in a masterful sophisticated way. I have just enough writing experience to recognize some of the triumphs of her dizzying skill. She manages to excel at both Craft and Voice simultaneously. I believe (and believe in) her characters and am captivated by the drive of her stories. I am in the early stages of developing as a writer of short works about people in the important small situations of their everyday lives, but I know just enough to feel awkward being in the same room with Alice Munro.

1 Comments:

At January 1, 2021 at 9:18 AM , Don Herald said...: Good choice, Bob.

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About Me

Name: Bob's Write From The Start

Location: Sarnia, Ontario, Canada

Born, raised and living in Sarnia, Ontario, Bob Boulton began writing poetry, short stories and humorous articles for his high school newspaper in the period just after dinosaurs roamed the earth. His article on the mysteries of the Chess Club was particularly well-received. Bob’s excruciatingly naive teenage sonnet was published with positive mention in the high school yearbook. In University he wrote pretty much indecipherable essays on Existentialism and Phenomenology. Then, early in his working career, Bob also wrote short feature articles in the now-defunct (not his fault) Weston York Times. For this, he was paid $5.00 per article, which didn’t quite cover his transportation and parking costs. Then after a short break of thirty-five or forty years as an executive and leadership coach, Bob reactivated his passion for writing. The alternatives he considered were learning to yodel or trying to play the bagpipes. Bob’s loving and supportive family voted enthusiastically, and quickly, for writing.