Ray Bradbury’s Insights on Writing

Notes from a YouTube Video

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• Reason for Speaking: Bradbury explains that he quit acting because he struggled to remember lines, but found joy in lecturing because it allowed spontaneity.
• Encouragement to Writers: Recognizes the desire among many in the audience to write well and avoid pitfalls. He emphasizes the importance of learning the “hygiene” of writing.
• Danger of Writing Novels Prematurely: Advises against starting with novels as they can consume a year or more without yielding strong results if the writer lacks experience.
• Writing Short Stories as Practice: Recommends writing one short story per week. By the end of a year, you’ll have 52, likely including some quality work. He advocates this as the best training for writers, emphasizing that practice brings improvement over time.
• His Own Journey: Bradbury shares his experience of writing continuously from age 12 to 22 before he produced anything he considered decent, underscoring the value of persistent practice.
• Recommended Reading for Writers: Suggests studying short stories by authors like Roald Dahl, Edith Wharton, Eudora Welty, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who are skilled at using metaphor. He advises against modern anthologies that often lack compelling narratives or metaphorical depth.
• Daily Routine for Writers: Advises reading one short story, one poem, and one essay every night to expand one’s knowledge and creativity. This practice, he believes, enriches the writer’s “mental library” and fosters the development of new metaphors.
• Importance of Supportive Friends: Bradbury suggests “firing” friends who don’t believe in your dreams, emphasizing the need for a supportive community in the journey of becoming a writer.
• Learning from Libraries, Not Just Technology: Recounts his own library-driven education and warns against relying solely on computers and the internet. He advocates exploring libraries to discover unexpected and inspiring content.
• Embrace Diverse Influences: Urges writers to fall in love with multiple types of art, such as old films, plays, and a variety of literary genres. This wide-ranging appreciation enriches creativity and prevents narrow-mindedness in artistic pursuits.
• Writing Should Be Fun, Not Work: Writing should be a joyful, celebratory activity, not a chore. He encourages writers to avoid treating it as “work” and to stop if it starts feeling that way.
• Avoid “Writer’s Block” by Writing What You Love: If writers experience blockage, he suggests it’s because they’re writing something they don’t genuinely care about. For him, writing has always been a joy, not a struggle.
• Writing from Personal Fears and Hatreds: Bradbury suggests creating lists of things or people you fear or hate, and then writing about them. He encourages tapping into deep, personal emotions as a source for storytelling.
• Personal Memories as Inspiration: Bradbury recalls a haunting childhood memory of a dark staircase and used it as inspiration for a story years later. He emphasizes drawing from personal, vivid memories, as they can be powerful material for storytelling.
• Returning to One’s Roots: Bradbury recounts visiting his childhood home and reconnecting with people and places from his past. These encounters brought back vivid memories that he later used in his writing, like in his novel “Dandelion Wine.”
• Letting the Story Surprise You: Bradbury believes in starting with intriguing characters without knowing the plot’s outcome, allowing the story to unfold naturally. This element of surprise can add excitement for both the writer and the reader.
• Writing to Discover Oneself: He advises writers to let go of commercial concerns and instead focus on word association exercises to tap into their “true self” and passions. Writing in this way can bring unexpected revelations and genuine authenticity.
• Influences and Inspirations: Bradbury was inspired by “Winesburg, Ohio” by Sherwood Anderson and dreamed of writing a book like it set on Mars, which led to his collection “The Martian Chronicles.”
• Unexpected Book Projects: He sold both “The Martian Chronicles” and “The Illustrated Man” by connecting separate short stories into a cohesive “tapestry,” creating novels out of what were initially unrelated stories.
• Poverty and Dedication to Writing: Bradbury shares his financial struggles early in his marriage, mentioning sacrifices he and his wife made to support his writing career, emphasizing that dedication often requires personal sacrifice.
• Exploring Childhood Experiences and Imaginations: He reminisces about idyllic summer nights with his family, inspiring essays on front porches and family gatherings. These nostalgic memories of youth and family influenced his later works.
• Inspired by Observations of Everyday Life: Bradbury describes seeing a boy with new sneakers on a bus, which sparked a memory and inspired his story “The Sound of Summer Running.” He encourages writers to find inspiration in simple, everyday observations.
• Books as a Journey of Discovery: For Bradbury, each book was an organic surprise, unfolding through a blend of memory, observation, and instinct rather than a meticulously planned outline.
• Grandmother’s Cooking: Fond memories of being in the kitchen with his grandmother, helping her with food preparation, and enjoying the experience of a real pantry filled with exotic spices.
• Inspiration for Writing: These early memories and the daily experiences eventually led him to realize that his collection of short stories formed a novel that celebrates life and the experiences of growing up.
• Novel’s Theme: The novel unexpectedly became about the entirety of life — birth, growth, joy, the discovery of mortality, and the intertwined fear of both life and death.
• Process of Discovery in Writing: He emphasizes the importance of allowing oneself to surprise oneself through the creative process, finding themes and connections in the act of writing rather than planning every detail.
• Working with Gene Kelly: A conversation with Gene Kelly inspired Bradbury to revisit his existing work, which ultimately became “Something Wicked This Way Comes.”
• Artistic Collaboration: Bradbury felt destined to meet artist Joe Mugnaini, who “painted his mind” with works that seemed to capture his stories before they were even written. Mugnaini later illustrated many of Bradbury’s books.
• Impact of a Stranger: Encounter with a man with a disfigured face on a ship inspired “A Graveyard for Lunatics,” reflecting Bradbury’s reaction to the man’s resilience and the power of love from his family.
• Themes of Film and Fantasy: Lifelong friendships and passions for subjects like dinosaurs and fantasy films, particularly his friendship with stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen, inspired him to incorporate these elements in his own stories.
• Validation from Readers: Bradbury recalls the moment when he saw strangers holding copies of his book, “The Martian Chronicles.” It was a profound validation, showing him the real value of writing — connecting with readers on a deeply personal level.
• Joy of Writing: Emphasizes that writing is about bringing joy, surprise, and authenticity, rather than monetary success or fame.
• Surprise and Discovery: Writers should aim to surprise themselves, not knowing where their stories will lead.
• Importance of Readers’ Love: True success is having readers who genuinely appreciate and connect with your work.
• Continuous Exploration: Writing is a lifelong journey of joy and discovery, with each project providing new insights

Recommendations:

Roald Dahl Short Stories
Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant
John Cheever Short Stories
Richard Matheson Short Stories
Nigel Kneale Short Stories
John Collier Short Stories
Catherine Anne Porter Short Stories/Novella
Edith Wharton Short Stories (Save her novels till later)
A Curtain of Green by Eudora Welty
Washington Irving
Herman Melville Short Stories
Edgar Allen Poe
Nathaniel Hawthorne Short Story Fantasy
Shakespeare Poems
Alexander Pope Poems
Robert Frost Poems
Aldous Huxley Essays
Loren Eiseley Essays (The Fire Apes (to start))
George Bernard Shaw (Collected Essays of)
G.K Chesterton
George Bernard Shaw vs G.K Chesterton Debates

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