Author says the book is here to stay

If you listen to Ron Carlson, writing sounds hardly worth the effort.

“At your age I wrote periodically,” Carlson said Wednesday in the Alumni Center to the students in the audience. “But come on, it’s hard.”

Carlson, professor of English at Arizona State University and a lecturer in the Caine School of the Arts visiting artist series, gave a reading of his published work and signed copies of his new book, “Five Skies,” which has been well-received by critics. Carlson has also had stories published in Esquire, Harper’s, The New Yorker, Gentlemen’s Quarterly, Epoch and The North American Review, as well as several books of short stories.

The most important thing about writing, Carlson said, is people have to be alone when they do it. Company can only distract someone.

“The most valuable technical tool a writer has is her door,” he said. He told the audience about nights in the dorms when he would sit down to write and could hear friends in the hall going off to fraternity row or some activity. Often, he deserted his writing desk and went with them, he said.

“(But) those nights I stayed in I was richer the next morning,” he said. “The first time you do that in college – stay home and write for a few hours – you can call yourself a writer.”

Carlson said writing for yourself is a vital part of writing a good story. Of all the stories he’s written, Carlson said, only two were written specifically for market.

“You might adjust what you’re doing for your readers, and you can’t. You can’t do it,” he said. “You’re alone when you write. If you write for me or us, you’ll knock the corners off a bit.”

A writer must be committed, Carlson said.

“I don’t want to write a story, it’s too hard,” Carlson said, giving lie to the fact he has had dozens published. “I have to write about something important to me.”

He said he often doesn’t know where a story is taking him; he just has an impulse to write and so he follows it.

“It’s like walking in the dark with a flashlight,” he said.

Carlson said another important thing about writing is to remember “theme is a reader’s term.” It can’t be forced.

“You write the story and the theme emerges. You can’t help it,” he said.

The purpose of writing reflects civilization’s need to share its stories, he said. For example, he said, the modern technology boom is fundamentally about finding new methods of sharing stories and songs.

The good news, Carlson said triumphantly, is the book will not become a forgotten medium.

“Literature is one of the earmarks of civilization,” he said. “The book is here to stay.”

-elizabeth.lawyer@aggiemail.usu.edu