Writing Like Raymond Carver
I fell in love with the writing of Raymond Carver many years ago, when I was first studying the craft of fiction writing and looking for influences. Carver was alive and still writing at that time. The story I’ll be talking about was published in 1981. I still find his simple turn of phrase breathtaking.
His writing style is sparse, understated, and deceptively simple. In those spare words, without fluff or flowery language, he explores people, thoughts and gestures, and the emotion lying beneath them. He captures the odd, charming, sad and funny ways people say things, and in the process gives us a unique slant on people that is true to life.
This description of Carver’s style, from the enotes online literary guide for students, describes him well:
Critics have aligned Carver with minimalist writers because of his truncated prose and elliptical delineation of characters and events in the volume What We Talk about When We Talk about Love, in which Esquire magazine claimed that Carver had “reinvented the short story.”
The reason for this post
I’m writing this post because I’m involved in a group called Write Club, and each of us takes a turn to deliver a story prompt during our 16-week bootcamp. This is session 5. Most of us are Steemians, so we post our prompts on Steemit. And if it inspires other writers, that is a wonderful side benefit.
The prompt post must include a story example and describe an aspect of that story for the group to use as the prompt for their own piece.
For example, @diebitch provided the last prompt, which directed us to write a magical realism piece. As another example, @caleblailmusik provided a prompt that required us to write about a sense of place. And @nobyeni issued a prompt in which she implored us to write about someone who is annoying. They have all been great fun.
This is my second time in Write Club. It feels more comfortable this time, and less of a stretch to factor in the development of a short story in a two-week period. I know I have developed a lot as a writer since the last session a year ago! I am writing more than ever before, enjoying the process more, and am happier with the results.
You won’t see the stories that result from these prompts on the Steem blockchain, as we are drafting and polishing them with mainstream publishing in mind.
The story prompt
Contrary to the title of my post, I’m not necessarily expecting anyone to write like Raymond Carver. But I hope you will be inspired by the story I will share, and by both its simplicity and its complexity.
The story is called “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.”
It involves two couples discussing the topic of love, from many angles — what it means to love, to be in love, and the fact that it’s possible to love someone passionately, and later hate them. The things that are revealed about the four people, their experiences, their beliefs, and of course the topic of love itself, are complex. But the storytelling is spare and unadorned.
That is your challenge, dear writers — to tackle a complex topic in simple, no-frills language.
