Salman Rushdie on Writing as a Process of Discovery
Summary
TLDRIn this talk, the speaker discusses the fluid process of writing fiction, emphasizing how characters and narratives evolve during the creation of a novel. They highlight the importance of discovery in storytelling, using examples from their own works, such as 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet' and 'Shalimar the Clown.' The speaker reflects on how characters sometimes take unexpected paths, leading to richer storylines, like a hidden Bugatti plane in WWII France that inspired a unique twist in a novel. The process involves a balance between structure and creative flexibility.
Takeaways
- 📚 The author always has a clear idea of the book's architecture and the points it needs to cover.
- 🧠 Writing a book is an experience of learning about the characters and their development.
- 🔍 The final book is often different from the initial concept due to the discovery process.
- 🌟 The author believes in being open to the book's evolution based on what is learned about the characters.
- 📈 Sometimes, characters that were thought to be minor turn out to be significant, and vice versa.
- 🎭 An example of this was in 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet', where the initial part of the novel expanded significantly.
- 🌍 The author felt the need to fully develop the world the characters were leaving to make the act of leaving impactful.
- 👂 When writing 'Shalimar the Clown', the author focused on 'creative listening' to the characters.
- 🕵️♂️ The backstory of a character might require research, which can sometimes lead to unexpected and enriching discoveries.
- ✈️ The story of the Bugatti racer plane during WWII was a research discovery that the author incorporated into the narrative.
- 🎨 The author uses research to enhance the story, even if it leads to a more fantastical outcome than initially planned.
Q & A
What does the speaker mean by the 'architecture' of a book?
-The speaker refers to the 'architecture' of a book as having a clear structure and direction, with key points or milestones that need to be addressed throughout the narrative.
How does the speaker describe the process of writing in terms of character development?
-The speaker explains that while they have an initial understanding of the characters before starting, the writing process involves a discovery, where the characters evolve and reveal new aspects of themselves as the story progresses.
What does the speaker imply by saying, 'the book you finish is never the book you begin'?
-The speaker implies that the writing process is fluid, and the final outcome of a book often differs significantly from the original concept due to the ongoing discovery of the characters and changes in the story.
What example does the speaker give to illustrate how the length of a section can change during writing?
-The speaker gives the example of 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet,' where they initially thought the opening India section would be 50-60 pages, but it ended up becoming half the novel because of the richness of the world they were creating.
Why did the speaker feel it was important to expand the India section in 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet'?
-The speaker felt that the act of leaving the world needed to have an impact, and for that to happen, the world the characters were leaving had to be fully realized and 'live' for the readers.
How does the speaker approach writing the characters in 'Shalimar the Clown'?
-The speaker took a more intuitive approach with 'Shalimar the Clown,' sitting down every day and 'listening' to the characters to let them reveal what they needed, leading to a creative discovery process.
What unexpected narrative shift occurred while writing 'Shalimar the Clown'?
-While writing 'Shalimar the Clown,' the speaker introduced a section about wartime France to explain the backstory of a character named Max, which wasn't part of the original plan but emerged as necessary to understand the character better.
What role does research play in the speaker's writing process?
-Research plays an important role, often giving the speaker new ideas and 'fantastic gifts.' For example, while researching 'Shalimar the Clown,' the discovery of the Bugatti racer airplane added a more creative and entertaining narrative element to the story.
What is the significance of the Bugatti racer story in the context of 'Shalimar the Clown'?
-The Bugatti racer story became a key part of the character Max's escape from the Nazis. The speaker found the idea of making the plane fly, something that never happened in real life, more entertaining than using a more realistic escape via underground networks.
What message does the speaker convey about the flexibility needed in writing?
-The speaker emphasizes the need for flexibility in writing, being open to changes and allowing the story and characters to evolve naturally. This adaptability often leads to richer, more dynamic narratives.
Outlines
📚 The Evolution of a Book's Structure
The speaker discusses the process of writing a book, emphasizing that while they often have a clear idea of the book's structure and where it needs to go, the actual writing experience is one of learning about the characters. They mention that the final book is rarely the one they initially envisioned, as the process of discovery often leads to shifts in emphasis and character development. The speaker gives the example of 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet,' where the initial plan was for a much shorter first half, but the richness of the world they were writing about led to it becoming half the novel. They also discuss the importance of making the world that characters leave fully alive to make the act of leaving impactful.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Architecture of a book
💡Characters
💡Discovery
💡The Ground Beneath Her Feet
💡Leaving
💡Shalimar the Clown
💡Creative listening
💡Wartime France
💡Bugatti racer
💡Research
Highlights
The author mentions that writing a book involves a process of learning about characters, emphasizing that the book one finishes is never the book one begins.
The author reflects on the need to stay open to discovery during the writing process, allowing characters and the story to evolve in unexpected ways.
In 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet,' the author initially planned for the India section to be only 50-60 pages, but the richness of that world expanded it to half the novel.
The author emphasizes that if the world from which characters leave isn't fully realized, the act of leaving will have no emotional impact on the reader.
In 'Shalimar the Clown,' the author allowed the characters to guide the narrative by engaging in what he calls 'creative listening,' which shaped the book's structure.
The author didn’t initially plan for the backstory of Max in wartime France, but it became necessary for understanding the character, leading to unexpected research.
The research for the Max character revealed interesting historical details, such as the story of a hidden Bugatti plane built to break the German speed record before WWII.
The author found the Bugatti plane, hidden from the Nazis during the war, in a museum in Wisconsin, and decided to incorporate this into the novel's escape storyline.
The process of writing often provides unexpected gifts through research, as demonstrated by the discovery of the Bugatti plane, which became a key plot element.
The author emphasizes the importance of letting historical research inspire creative decisions, as it adds depth and richness to fictional narratives.
The balance between planned narrative structure and the flexibility to adapt is crucial for the author’s creative process.
The author often finds that characters he initially believed would be central become less significant, while others gain prominence as the story develops.
The author expresses a willingness to depart from realism if it serves the narrative better, as seen with the Bugatti plane plotline.
In 'Shalimar the Clown,' the four main characters—the two male and two female—were central to shaping the novel, as their interactions led the author to develop the story in unexpected directions.
The author's writing process is deeply influenced by his interest in character-driven narratives, which often guide the thematic and structural direction of his books.
Transcripts
this program is brought to you by Emory
University well for me it's it's not
exactly and I always have pretty clear
idea of the kind of architecture of a
book and where it's got to get to and
quite a lot of points it's got to go
through and I think I usually understand
quite a bit of it about the characters
you know like before I start but writing
a book is always an experience of
learning about the characters know and
do characteristically you know somebody
said you're the book you finish is never
the book you begin and I think that's I
think that's true because of that
process of discovery know nothing I
think if I've always felt but I have to
be open to that you know and allow the
book to shift and change emphasis so on
based on what I learn about the
characters I mean it's quite often being
the case that somebody I thought was
going to be a big character turns out
not to be very big character and then
sometimes the other way around and one
of the big examples of this was when I
wrote the ground beneath her feet
because I had thought that the opening
what is now the first half of the novel
the sort of India part of the novel I
thought it would be much shorter it
would be like 2 or 50 60 pages that
because it's a novel about people
leaving you know it's novel about it's a
novel about the dream of leaving and and
I thought they leave it's and and then
it just began that world the world that
they came from no it just seemed to me
to have great richness and I just wanted
to go on writing about it you know and
and also I felt that if you don't make
the world they leave fully live then the
act of leaving has no effect you know it
doesn't doesn't touch you or it doesn't
affect you so I so in the end this thing
that I thought would be 50 pages ended
up being half the novel and so to that
extent I think I do always try and
remain open to that discovery and again
it varies from book to book
when I wrote Shalimar the clown for
instance I mean I was very clear that
I had these four characters two male and
two female characters who seemed to me
to be I mean I was very interested in
them you know and they seemed very
engaging to me and in in the end I
thought I'm just going to sit down every
day and listen to them and tell me what
they need know and the way in which the
book took shape was really based on that
act of if you like of listening or
creative listening so for instance the
passage in the book which goes back into
wartime France in order to tell you the
kind of backstory of the character max I
really hadn't thought that that would be
they're all you know and then it seemed
that I needed it for him you know other
people should understand who he is you
know and so them I had to find out a lot
about you know about occupied France and
the resistance and so on and so on and
sometimes research gives you fantastic
gifts because I knew that he had to
escape you know you have to escape the
Nazis so on and I mean I knew as as is
known that there were these networks
these underground networks you know that
the French Resistance set up in order to
get people out I assumed that I was
going to happen and then I found
something much more interesting which is
that just near Strasbourg where first ed
is a village where there was an old you
got a factory or the Bugatti motorcars
and and Senor Bugatti had been very
angry just before the break outbreak of
world war ii the fact that the Germans
had built an aircraft Messerschmitt
which have broken the world speed record
he disapproved the fact that the Germans
at the world speed record so he built a
plane in order to break the German
record and he built this little plane
which was called the Bugatti racer and
it never flew because because the war
started in France fell and so on but he
managed to conceal this plane throughout
the war Nazis never got their hands on
it he hid it and now actually it's in
Oshkosh Wisconsin as a has an old
aircraft museum and it's it's ended up
that it never flew ever you know but the
general view is that had it flown it
would have said would have been faster
it broken the record anyway I thought
here's this plane and it's hidden you
know and this guy's tried to escape
wouldn't it be great if I could make
make the thing happen that never
happened this plane that never flew you
know I can let it fly
you know and so so that was just a
discovery you know and so that I thought
was more entertaining than what I
originally had which was the kind of
underground network so on which is more
realistic the preceding program is
copyrighted by Emory University
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