Writing Workshop with Andre Dubus III

I recently attended a three-hour workshop led by Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog (which was made into a movie) and several other books.

Dubus had us do a number of writing exercises that concentrated on including lots of sensory detail. This was to illustrate his belief that stories should be character driven, not plot driven. According to the author, there are four methods of creating characters:

• Looks—where the character lives and what is in his pockets.
• Speech—what he says, how he says it, and what is not said.
• Actions—gestures, how the character moves, what he does, and how he reacts to others.
• Interior life—what he remembers and fantasizes about.

Indirectly, characters are developed by

• what one character says about another.
• the narrator telling you what’s happening.

Other things that I learned about the author’s writing techniques include the following. He

• writes five days a week, though he didn’t say how long he writes each day.
• reads poetry before he starts writing—I assume as creative inspiration.
• doesn’t outline his stories before writing. He feels that outlines hamper his imagination.
• feels that the storyteller should not ask what happened, but ask what it is like to be in a situation.

To be a good writer, Dubus feels that you must

• have great curiosity about why man does what he does.
• be emotionally truthful in your writing.
• be comfortable staying in a state of uncertainty.
• be willing to accept whatever comes as your story unfolds.
• be willing to take risks and fail.

Here are examples of some of the writing exercises we did.

• Picture a porch—list everything that comes to mind as you think of this porch. Review the list and then incorporate some of the items on the list into your writing.
• Picture a room—list all of the objects you “see” in this room. Again, review the list and include the important objects into your writing. Remember to include the emotions that these objects evoke.
• List ten people—go back and write at least three sensory images for each of those people. Choose one of the people and write about that person developing the sensory images.

After we finished each of these writing exercises, people read their pieces on a voluntary basis. It was amazing how much we learned about each person from his writing. The writing was so revealing because the participants took Dubus to heart and were very honest with their emotions.

I don’t think any of us experienced writer’s block. In fact, the vast majority of people had a difficult time stopping when it was time.