by Walter Soellner, Vice President, AFT 6157R
Most everyone I know said they wanted to write something. Most thought about writing a book or short story. For most, it just seemed too daunting. I told them, “Just write the first sentence, then you have an unfinished manuscript!” Looking at a big thick book seems overwhelming but writing that first sentence and then another and another, gets much easier.
Since I retired, I have written four published historical fiction novels, and the manuscript for a fifth one is due out this fall. I didn’t do it alone; I had help from my literary friends: Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and Ernest Hemingway. The book ‘Ernest Hemingway On Writing’ by Larry Phillips, is full of Ernest’s direct quotes on writing. It’s very useful. The thin book ‘Mark Twain, Wit and Wisecracks’ by Doris Benardete is full of Twain’s writing and all manner of his truisms.
The very best book I have ever found and of greatest value for writers is, ‘The Artful Dickens, Tricks and Ploys of the Great Novelist’ by John Mullan. No other book comes close to the valuable details offered for writers. This book is my literary bible. It gives detailed suggestions on how to improve any writing. Here are some of the specific most valuable topics covered:
How to use fantasy or smells or tastes or changing tenses or haunting or laughter or foreseeing or naming or coincidences or cliches or speaking or sex or how to break the rules for effect. There is a chapter for each of the above topics with many examples.
It’s fun to read and the most valuable book I own.
Good luck with your literary efforts, and if you choose to read rather than write, here are my five books for you. All are available on Amazon or from me.
- Book one: Kalvarianhof, The Perilous Journey
- Book two: The Storm That Shook The World
- Book three: An Incident In Africa
- Book four: How Soon The Flowers Fall
- Book five: The Long Way Home (to be available fall of 2025)
The book series is about two friendly families, one Catholic, one Jewish, over three generations from 1900 to 1948. The series is full of daring adventures and romance.