WALTER MOSLEY

By Laura P. Valtorta

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The most practical book about the mechanics of writing fiction that I’ve read is Walter Mosley’s This Year You Write Your Novel. It’s more along the lines of a how-to book than Stephen King’s On Writing, or Eudora Welty’s One Writer’s Beginnings. King and Welty give us insights into their personal lives and stories about their childhoods. Mosley’s book doesn’t really do that. Mosley’s book resembles How to Write a Movie in 21 Days by Viki King because it’s a blueprint for finishing a piece of writing.

I read Mosley’s book partly looking for a description of his life. What was it like being a Jelack (that’s a term invented by Margaret Atwood) growing up in Los Angeles? No clues. Mosley adds a tough Jewish lawyer to his Easy Rawlins series, but the character is a woman. Most of his fiction (science fiction, detective stories, and literary fiction) describes the lives of black men with anthracite skin.

Mosley’s book on writing prescribes several habits. He believes writers need to write every day. The first draft, for him, takes three months. Then he advises reading the entire first draft, and making corrections, which becomes the second draft. The reading of the first draft could take an entire week. Many re-writes follow. He shows how to avoid repetition, create good dialogue, and edit away too much detail. He suggests reading poetry. He believes that writing in a journal can distract someone from writing fiction.

I believe that Mosley should have included more in his book about building a story arc. For me, that’s the toughest part of any writing.

From This Year You Write Your Novel, I gleaned a few details about Walter Mosley, the man. He studied writing at the City College of New York in Harlem. Like me, he enjoys listening to birdsong while writing. He often has antisocial feelings that he represses in life, but not in his writing. How?

I imagine Mosley living alone in a loft in New York City. High ceilings, big bed. Within walking distance of a café. I imagine him sitting at his writing desk next to a beautiful window that looks out on trees and birds, maybe a sidewalk below.

Reading Mosley’s fiction is what brings me closer to Walter, the man. Loving that fiction also brings me closer to John Grisham and Bill Clinton, both of whom profess to be fans of Mosley.