books – Henry Lewis, Writer

29 March 2025

I am a writer. I began as a young poet and as one aspiring to write a good story. Over my life I learned to write business proposals, technical manuals, and analyses of various kinds. There are so many kinds of writing, and I have tasted a few. These days I write stories and essays. And I still write poetry for it is my heart and voice. But I have set myself to focus on writing fiction. It has become a passion. Sometimes a short piece, sometimes a longer narrative like a novel.

In fiction there are various genre – westerns, romance, crime, horror, science fiction – to name a few. But I am not comfortable writing in any of those spaces. They follow a pattern the reader is expecting. I enjoy reading some of these, yet as a writer they feel unnatural to me and far too structured. I need more imaginative latitude and a wild freedom as a storyteller. My fictional writing is described in publishing as literary fiction, which I am told means an area of fiction not easily fitting into an accepted genre. So, there we are, not quite fitting, but I’m ok with that.

So, how do I write literary fiction? Let me share it with you.

I begin with a person or a scene. If a scene, say for example the view from an apartment window or of a forest coming awake with the dawn, then I find the person who is there in that place. I begin to wonder what their experience is just then. My poetic self may whisper some lyrical phrase curiously teasing my thoughts, some unusual twist of words begging me to come along, so I follow it. I let my curiosity birth the creative moment, the unfolding, for it is happening just now and I would not miss it for the world. Once I have the person, I have a character, and I am off and moving in a story. I am in another world, a very real world being created with each successive word I write, a place and people gradually coming into view, coming into being just before me. As the writer, I am also new to the situation and just as unknowing as the next person. And the question I quietly pose to myself, what would this person do now, what are they thinking and feeling?

Other genres follow more defined patterns. But for me it is not a matter of staging situations or developing tension or having a grand scheme or plot as to how the story will develop. For in a very real sense, I do not know what my characters will do. They simply do them, they live out their moments and lives as I quietly follow along, and a story plays out from their actions or thoughts. It just does. It is always a sublime adventure for me as my characters come alive and respond to things happening. I am curious how it will go for them, for they have somehow become very real to me and I have grown to care about them very much. They often do things unexpected and I am as surprised as my readers. But there it is. The creative process bubbling out unknown realities into the world we know. It is an almost imperceptible revealing of the heart and mind of another, and who can know it. It is mystery. We are all beholding a thing new. And yes, my characters do eventually find resolution to their personal struggles and so on. But that is not my focus as I write. I am just a sympathetic observer of my characters, as of one tagging along and taking notes. To focus on the mechanics would miss the unfolding tale. It would seem forced and artificial to me. I let the words and actions of my characters tell me how things will go for them, how all will work out at the last. They always do.

Now a few words on something I said earlier. I said, I need more imaginative latitude and a wild freedom as a storyteller. Let me elaborate on this.

As a writer of literary fiction, I do not feel bound by structure. I am free to lean in close and freely imagine the next thing, anything. There is no crime to solve, no romantic interest to pursue, and no horror to avoid. There are none of those things. What I do have are a few characters those lives I am becoming involved with for they are living right in front of me. I am very much involved and most curious. At times, I only perceive their outer behavior and responses, and these can be telling, suggesting hesitation or excitement or any number of things. At other times, I am given a view of a character’s inner world, their thoughts, imaginations, and memories. And these are more things I can work with. But honestly, at various points I am never quite sure what to do with what I have come to know. I am in the dark. I do not know what will happen next. It is at these points I pause and wait. I give my characters time to provide a sense of what is next for them, of what they want to do or need to do. And it always comes clear, I just need to be patient. Often at such times I get up from my writing and go do something else unrelated to my writing or the story I am working on. I go for a walk or work in the garden or whatever. And would you believe, I suddenly become aware of what must happen next. It is then I return to my writing, pick up the story and continue. This is how it goes with me. I have learned to have faith in the creative process as my imagination and characters help me along. There is always a revealing.

There is another aspect of literary fiction worth touching on. I mentioned a moment ago of having a view of some of my character’s thoughts, imaginations, and memories. These are vital to me. They become touchstones into the psyche of my characters, what makes them who they are, and why they respond the way they do. These markers open rich avenues of discovery often revealing much more of my character’s motivations and deeper desires than any normal activity would ever reveal. And they often become critical to the story. It is from these imaginings I drift and freefall into myriad contemplations. The images often just ordinary memories repeating some thread or strand of thought I have introduced earlier in the story bringing a continuity to the whole piece. Yet at times these images take on a truly fantastical nature, vivid and shocking, sometimes startling and otherworldly, aspects I did not anticipate at all, but I follow it. I am as curious as the next person as to what this means or how it will contribute anything to my larger story. Yet there it is. In these moments, I move with confidence for I know that all will come around full and tell the tale as it must be told. These wild and sometimes bizarre images often bleed into the actual lives of my characters causing them to see beyond the pale of this world into another, a world dreamlike or magical or eternal. They are often self-revealing for my characters. For it is here, where my characters embrace these broad intense realities, that they often find meaning and resolution. I cannot say why or how this is so, I just know this is what happens.

As a writer it is still all wonder to me.

Henry

It seems to me the writer begins with a love of words just as a painter begins with his colors. The writer must enjoy the sound and near music of these written symbols on a page, playing with them as an improvisational jazz musician might dance among his notes and phrases, tinkering with the tonal quality, the hue, and myriad other things, arranging them and enjoying feel and taste of it. It is here the writer hones his craft, patiently moving among his words until he is full-satisfied they carry the sense and meaning he has intended. And as with the painter who spends a lifetime achieving the occasional masterpiece, the writer needs to remain content with here and there a good written piece coming from his labors, the other pieces but working sketches of a kind. It is real work and hard, and requires the dedicated hand. Daily if possible. And if not daily, frequently anyway, if that is all the time one has. But it is important to always hold before ourselves the simple reality that we are becoming writers, that we are still and always will be learning more of our craft. And this will take a lifetime.

But how to learn the craft? I have read a few books and articles on how to write. They have included strategies for how to produce specific kinds of written work. How to finish your novel, how to prepare a research paper, or how to write a poem or short story. And I suppose these are useful in their place. To be sure, I have picked up a few ideas there. But personally, I prefer the more organic approach.

As a writer of literary novels, short stories, poems, and a few essays, I have found the best resource in developing my own craft is to read good literature. The classics are very helpful, works that have endured time, cultural shifts, changing styles, and a vast and varied audience of readers. Also, modern day masters of the craft whose style I have come to admire in some way. It is not that we ought to copy these writers, but rather it is as to sit at their feet and learn from them by what they have done. How they construct the story or build a character or weave the threads of thought that carries the reader through the narrative, or how the poem completes an experience through image, movement, and color rather than a dull pile of suffocating details. To listen and observe these masters is the best and most satisfying method of learning the craft. It is then in our own writing we apply those things observed, putting them to the test through our own unique voice furthering our style and technique, honing our craft.

But why write at all? I think this is an important question. The answers vary. Some strive to achieve a level of notoriety as an author, the admiration of countless readers, and garner a few royalties along the way. This is fine. But I caution, it is rare. Most writers do not achieve this in any substantial way regardless of how delightful it may appear. And I suppose we all harbor a quiet hope this will happen with our work, that others will see the beauty of our words and so on. But let us be realistic for we are in this for the long haul. It is our life. We are in with the long view if we are actually writers and not simply someone trying to make a name for themselves. As writers we simply must write. It is in our bones and that is all there is to it. We write because it is our life to write.

So, I ask again, Why write? Knowing why helps us weather the inevitable stream of rejection notices or the criticisms of those who may have read a piece but did not have a taste for our style. Not everyone will be taken with our work and that is fine. It is all good. Knowing why we write, though, helps us through any feelings that we have failed at the task, for if we are still in the race, we have not lost but are making our way, steadily moving forward, listening, learning, and always improving our craft. Think of it as a lifestyle. It is who we are.

Personally, I write to touch others, to give them an experience they have never known or have long forgotten, to tease and uplift to new surroundings, to inspire, encourage, and to provide a moment of restoration to the weary or broken, or a moment of surprise and a new world to those gone tired of the world they know. For these reasons I am devoted to the craft. I do not aspire to a great name as an author. I aspire to touch the occasional reader in such a way that they are changed, are given a little something encouraging in their own passage through the world. Perhaps it is the way I paint a certain character or how someone in a story responds to another. Or maybe a poem that gives someone new eyes to see what they have never known before. This is my passion, what I long for as an outcome to my labors. I know this is simple, but I want it that way. I think there is a purity and wholeness in this motivation that keeps my own efforts less about me and more about my reader. In the end, it is simply an invitation into my world.

This is the writing life for me. And if you are a writer, I hope this helps a little.

Henry Lewis

7 February 2025