Secrets of Writing by Maeve Binchy

A few years back, Laura and I visited two different nearby libraries in the same weekend. It was autumn and autumn’s usually the time when village and town libraries attempt to clear out their inventories of books. Unbeknownst to most people (really), libraries have finite space. Folks donate their used books to their local libraries. New titles come in and requests are made. Inventory grows. The problem is, space runs out quickly and these very libraries that once sought books to fill their shelves are put in the position of trying to get rid of their books. It’s a strange problem, I know.

It was a late weekend in September and both the New Portland Public Library and the Farmington Public Library were having book sales. And when I use the word “sale,” I mostly mean a lady standing outside next to a table or two pretty much begging people to take away anything they can carry. From Farmington, I found some excellent hardcover cookbooks and a few Star Trek books and from New Portland, we drove away with both a trunk-full and back seat-full of boxes. Of books. We spent $13 in Farmington and $10 in New Portland. The New Portland experience was ridiculous. We must have left with at least 100 novels. They’ve been sitting on our bedroom floor ever since. We’re trying to sell them on Ebay. They’re not moving quickly.

I’m an avid reader. For as long as I can remember, I’ve tried to read at least a chapter before bed each night. If I’m not much into the book I’m reading, I’ll make it through just a few pages, but if I like what I see, many more pages turn much more easily. I’ve already read quite a few books from our pile. My favorite so far has been Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising. That was an all too accurate depiction of the USSR invading Europe. Another good one was The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George. I’ll be writing a review on the latter on this blog soon. What an interesting find. Most of the other books I’ve read from our New Portland haul have been thrillers and zingers that I’ve flown through in just a few evenings. Those types of books are fun and good, but they’re not the types I find myself becoming attached to. They’re decently written, but they’re fillers. They’re not meaningful. Am I making sense? If you’re a reader, you’ve surely made friends with certain books. You’ve got your favorites. I’m sitting here typing right now, glancing over at a shelf of my own. Yes, there are only about a dozen of them, but these are the books that would come with me wherever I go.

Every few months, I have a meltdown because I think the world has run out of good books for me to read. I finish what’s on my nightstand and rummage through the pile on the bedroom floor, only to come up empty handed. There’s no system to my madness; I merely glance at a title and say, “nope” or “perhaps.” In the beginning, it was easy. I’d choose titles from authors I was familiar with, hence the Tom Clancy novel. There were plenty of them. My familiarity with certain authors’ writing styles was behind my reasoning for buying many of the books from the New Portland Library in the first place. But those titles have come and gone. I’m now left with books that were written by people I’ve never heard of. Writing styles I don’t know. I get to the point where I blindly grab a few randomly chosen stories and start a new round from my nightstand. I’m up against the wall. I need to develop a strong affinity for the book I’m reading very quickly or else I’ll put myself back in the same position I was that morning – empty handed.

About a week ago, I was at the lowest point I’ve been in a long time. I was frustrated and lost and was seeking out nearly anything that looked remotely interesting to read. I was even considering rereading some of my favorites, but there are only so many times a guy can fall into the captivating world of The Name of the Wind. I was even jumping through genres. Would the classics fill my soul? Perhaps some good ol’ fantasy or maybe science fiction. The problem with suffering through a lack of focus while choosing potential books is the risk of wasting money and time. For me, buying and reading a book is a big deal. I need to be sure I know what I’m getting into. I don’t merely choose a book. I much prefer when a book chooses me. Read the Paris Bookshop story I referred to above for some background on that. Jean Perdu will tell you all about it.

I crawled across the bedroom floor to our pile, took hold of a few bindings and dropped them on my nightstand. That night, I met a wonderful woman named Maeve Binchy.

Maeve Binchy was an Irish writer. She was born in Dalkey, Dublin in 1939 and has written 16 novels, four short story collections, a play, and a novella. Her most recognizable titles are most likely Tara Road and Circle of Friends, which were both made into movies. Her novels, which were translated into 37 languages, sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Believe it or not, she was actually two months behind on her mortgage payments at the time of her first book sale. She sold her very first novel in 1983 for £52,000, after having it rejected five times prior. She ultimately became one of Ireland’s most wealthy women.

The book I’m currently reading is called Quentins. It’s a Maeve Binchy title and it inspired me to research the author and form a true admiration for her. In preparation for this post, I’ve read dozens of articles, her Wikipedia page, and have watched more than a handful of her interviews. Maeve had an incredible outlook on life and is definitely someone I would have loved to have had as a neighbor or friend. I could imagine stopping by to say hello; the stories I’d hear and the conversations we’d find ourselves having. In one of the interviews I watched, Maeve offered the secrets she shared with the Writing Club at a university in Dublin. Once I heard these secrets, I knew I had to write a post to share them with you. I’ll do that below. I’ll also be writing a book review of Quentins, but not before writing a post on how to properly write a book review. There’s so much to do, so little time.

Maeve Binchy’s Secrets for Successful Writing

Maeve told her students many things and was quite verbose in her explanations. She once said that she could write almost as much as she could talk, which was a lot. In this section, I’ll pare down what she said so you can get the most out of it. If you’re a writer, these hints may help. I think more than anything, she claimed that her hard work ethic had a hand in her success more than anything else. Sometimes, that’ll do.

1. Twice a week, write five pages. Sit yourself down and don’t get back up until you have those five pages written. If you do this twice per week, by the end of the year, you’ll have 520 pages written. Writing isn’t only about coming up with great ideas and perfecting your prose. It’s also (and mostly) about doing the actual work. And work it is. Why do you think most aspiring writers fail? It’s not only because their work wasn’t well received. It’s more likely because their work was never completed. I can only guess how many abandoned book projects there are in this world right now. So if you’re interested in writing, get to it and stay with it until you finish. No days off. No holidays. No nothing. According to Maeve Binchy, you need to work.
2. Write as you speak. Maeve gives good examples. Which would you rather read in a book? He went down the road. Or? He proceeded down the thoroughfare. She began to cry. Or? Tears coursed down her cheeks. The first options are completely natural and would be well received. No one would even notice anything odd about the sentences. He proceeded down the thoroughfare? Tears coursed down her cheeks? Those are odd and they sound contrived. No one speaks like that, so don’t write like it. I must say though, it’s tough to do. Personally, when I speak, I use a lot of slang and I’m not terribly organized. When I sit to write though, I have more time and my audience is far away and not presently judging me. I take much more care when I write and it may come off as unnatural. If I write too much like I speak, that’s weird too. I guess there’s a balance.
3. Listen to people speaking around you. Maeve says that she once overheard two women chatting on a bus. One woman told the other that she needed to buy a card for her parents’ silver wedding anniversary. The other woman said, “Oh, that’s nice.” The first woman replied, “Oh no. It’s a terrible marriage. So I’ll need to get them a big card. The worse the marriage, the bigger the card.” Guess what story Maeve Binchy based her book Silver Wedding upon? Yes, the conversation between the two women on the bus. So if you’re a writer and you’re looking for good writing ideas, listen to those who speak around you.
4. Listen to actual dialog between speakers. When using characters in your writing, you’ll need to develop distinct personalities for each. If you listen carefully on the street, the bus, in the office, at church or anywhere else people congregate to speak to one another, you’ll have more than enough ideas and examples for those characters to take advantage of. People in the real world don’t generally speak clearly and eloquently. They cut one another off. They don’t finish their sentences before beginning the next. Their sentences trail away… Use these cultural traits and examples to flesh out and define your characters’ personalities so your readers have something to identify with and fall in love with.

As I said above, I’m currently reading Quentins by Maeve Binchy. I’ll be honest; I love the book. I don’t generally read books written by Irish women who are of a different generation from the one I’m from. There’s something about this book that I find appealing though. At one point, I said to myself, “This lady is a genius.”

I was watching a book review video last night where the woman in the video gave an overview of all of Maeve’s novels, as a collection. The woman in the video described them as “sweet.” She said they all come together in the nicest ways possible. I tend to agree. From what I’ve read so far, I can say that I’m definitely a Binchy fan. Get ready for that Quentins review. It’ll likely be my first, so I hope it’s up to snuff.