New Notes from the Hilltop: Breaking the Rules

New Notes from the Hilltop: Breaking the Rules:             Have you ever taken a writing class? I can remember several books and the odd lecture on how to write a “compellin...

Breaking the Rules

            Have you ever taken a writing class? I can remember several books and the odd lecture on how to write a “compelling,” “suspenseful,” “true to life” story. You’re enjoined to begin in the middle, just as the real conflict is about to begin, to be sure there are clear protagonist and antagonist. You must create the physical setting to make the reader feel and see what the characters do. Even if you never thought of writing yourself, I’ll bet a good deal you’ve heard the Number One Rule of fiction writing:  Show, don’t tell.

            I recently reread a Hemingway short story. (Yes, I mean Ernest.) The title is “The Old Soldier.” To my amusement and amazement, as I got to the halfway point (in terms of number of pages), I realized that every one of those standard commands had been ignored.

            There was a fair amount of backstory-—all narrated, and not by the main character, but by the author. Minimal setting; we knew it had to be a small town in America’s heartland, but that was implied, not described. If there’s conflict, it’s between the “old” (he’s obviously very young in years) soldier’s damaged, pathetic persona and the reality of the peace he has come home to.

            As it happens, this is the kind of story I like best: a searching look into the depths of someone’s mind and emotions. Now I have a sense that if Hemingway can get away with it, I should be able to as well. [Don’t say it! Of course I can’t say it as well, but at least it’s legitimate to try.]