Writers to Ride With
Train trips and road trips can be an exhilarating experience for writers.
When alone, the open road provides a time to ponder story ideas, explore plot turns and character developments. Or, a time to relax with an audio book and enjoy the written word read aloud.
The same goes for an open window from a train, the scenery passing by.
When with another person, a train ride or road trip can be a bonding experience, conversation cruising along as comfortably as the ride itself.
The choice of traveling companion can make or break a voyage.
If you had the opportunity to hit the road with any writer, who would it be? Any author at all: a rising star, a contemporary great, or a past classic. Who would you want to share the road with?
For me, the choice would be easy: John Steinbeck. Steinbeck has long been my favorite writer. He doesn’t just know how to use the written word – his stories have heart, feeling, soul, and often a strong message. He knows how to convey things without having to say them. A reader gets to know his characters by their actions, not just their thoughts.
I could get lost in a long conversation with John Steinbeck, discussing my favorite novels – Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden – and talking about the great art of writing as a train carried us along, or as we rode in his “Rocinante.” I’d even be willing to take a back seat to his poodle, Charlie, for travels with Steinbeck.
That’s my choice. What’s yours? Which writer would you ride with?
When alone, the open road provides a time to ponder story ideas, explore plot turns and character developments. Or, a time to relax with an audio book and enjoy the written word read aloud.
The same goes for an open window from a train, the scenery passing by.
When with another person, a train ride or road trip can be a bonding experience, conversation cruising along as comfortably as the ride itself.
The choice of traveling companion can make or break a voyage.
If you had the opportunity to hit the road with any writer, who would it be? Any author at all: a rising star, a contemporary great, or a past classic. Who would you want to share the road with?
For me, the choice would be easy: John Steinbeck. Steinbeck has long been my favorite writer. He doesn’t just know how to use the written word – his stories have heart, feeling, soul, and often a strong message. He knows how to convey things without having to say them. A reader gets to know his characters by their actions, not just their thoughts.
I could get lost in a long conversation with John Steinbeck, discussing my favorite novels – Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden – and talking about the great art of writing as a train carried us along, or as we rode in his “Rocinante.” I’d even be willing to take a back seat to his poodle, Charlie, for travels with Steinbeck.
That’s my choice. What’s yours? Which writer would you ride with?
Labels: edgewriter, eric d. goodman, eric goodman, steinbeck, tracks
posted by Eric D. Goodman | Wednesday, January 05, 2011
2 Comments:
A preposition is not a word to end a title "with" ;-)) Having said that, my choice would be Catherine Marshall. She's been a favorite ever since I read A Man Called Peter and Christy. I've also enjoyed her nonfiction writing. The week Marshall passed away, I had just finished reading Eric (a book by another author) about a young man dying of cancer. His final line was: Go out and walk in the world for me. While my writing may never equal hers in content or popularity, I'd like to think that I might do that for Catherine Marshall. Perhaps you might go out and walk in the world for Steinbeck. Thanks for your article in Writers Weekly. Visit my blog at ksscott.wordpress.com
Hi KSScott,
And yet a preposition is exactly what you ended your first sentence with!
The rules have changed since college composition. And for stylistic purposes, it's fine to break the rules as long as you know the rules first.
At least that's my story, and it's what I'm gonna stick with.
A walk in the woods on behalf of another sounds like a great idea.
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