Every Writer Has A Unique Style

No Two Writers Alike When It Comes To Story-Telling

No matter how many books one reads, he or she  knows each writer has a different style when it comes to putting words together to create a story.

James Mitchener, arguably the most prolific writer of all time, was one of those scribes who spent months, even years, just researching his subject. He was the kind of writer that if you asked him what time it was, he’d explain how the watch was made. I tried to wade through “Hawaii” and “Centennial,” but barely got past the first couple of chapters. He would have made a grand geologist because of his thorough understanding and ability to explain earth formations.

Mitchener is said to have written some 5 million words during his long career, surpassing all other authors. When look at his body of work there’s little doubt that probably is true.

Louis Lamour was another author who was noted for his descriptive writing. My favorite of his works is “Last of the Breed.” Some months after reading about his downed-Air Force pilot hero, who escapes from a Soviet prison camp in Siberia, I had the opportunity to travel to the Yukon Territory in Canada. As we drove north from Whitehorse to Dawson City, the terrain looked surprisingly familiar. The Yukon and Siberia are on the same latitude and landscapes are strikingly similar. How did I know that? I had seen the landscape before from reading Lamour’s descriptions of the rugged, mountainous terrain of Siberia.

Ernest Hemingway was one of those writers who needed to experience all sorts of danger in order to prepare himself for a book. This explains his involvement during World War I as an ambulance driver for the Italian army and a correspondent during the revolution in Spain. Those two experiences rendered “A Farewell to Arms,” and “For Whom The Bell Tolls,” respectively. Those were but two of the many times he placed himself in dangerous situations, from bullfighting (“The Sun Also Rises”), to the hazards of deep sea fishing (“The Old Man and the Sea”).

Tom Clancy was an insurance salesman before hitting it big with “The Hunt For Red October.” Clancy has a knack for describing how a nuclear submarine works — and make it intriguing. While it’s arguable as to which of his tomes is the best, I think “October” was probably it. It is definitely a page-turner.

Mickey Spillane wrote fast and furious as he had his Mike Hammer, that edgy gum-shoe of a private eye, solve one case after another. I talked to him during a writer’s conference many years ago. He told me it took him an average of three weeks to write a crime novel. Spillane said he knocked out one of his crime novels in less than 24 hours — it only sold several hundred thousand copies. Servicemen in all branches of the military are forever grateful for his entertaining paperback novels. His secret? “Those big-shot writers could never dig the fact that there are more salted peanuts consumed than caviar.” he once quipped to an interviewer.

Personally, I like to write historical novels because of my passion for history. It’s my way of reminding readers where we’ve been. I prefer reading biographies. I get ideas from reading about the lives of great people.

One of the best pieces of writing advice I ever received was from a seasoned newspaperman back 40 years ago. “Write one page every day — without fail. Then spent a few hours massaging the hell out of just that one page. The next day, repeat the process, then carefully go over the previous day’s page one more time. It’s amazing what 24-hours of seasoning will do to your writing. You’ll see all sorts of places for improvment. In a year you’ll have yourself a decent-sized book.”

I try to follow that advice, but I do it by chapter, not page. Sometimes it might take a couple of weeks before I write the next chapter. I’ve found there’s no such thing as writer’s block — just procrastination and down right laziness.

Tom Morrow — quotetaker@msn.com — http://www.oldwarriorbooks.com