For this month, I’m reviewing one of the recent craft books that I’ve had on my virtual shelf: You: The Story: A Writer’s Guide to Craft Through Memory by Ruta Sepetys. This might seem like an odd choice for a blog post geared to fiction writers, but stick with me. Ruta Sepetys is the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee, and she is known for her award-winning historical fiction. Before I go too far into this post, I don’t want you to feel frustrated or distracted by whether or not you are pronouncing her name correctly in your head. Fortunately, one of many resources she provides is this media to let you know how to pronounce her name correctly.
Okay, so now, what is in this book for a fiction writer? Lots of things. Like other books on writing craft such as Bird By Bird or On Writing, Ruta Sepetys covers Plot, Character Development, Voice, Perspective, Setting, Dialogue, Research, Revisions & Input, and Courage. Each of these topics are their own section in the book and she includes a mini workshop on them complete with examples, many highly personal, and a lot of prompts.
The way Sepetys covers a lot of this material is similar to the way most writers and teachers have. All of those headings sound familiar and she still uses the same terminology like “inciting incident,” “conflict,” etc. No escaping the general vocabulary of writing with this one. However, what she shares in her Introduction informs the unique angle of this book and the prompts. My short and inarticulate version of her introduction is that life is not fiction. Life is too messy to be fiction, but fiction without any of the author in it is easy to see through and inauthentic. Sepetys posits that the “Four Hs” are the waves the excitement of life dwells within: “Heartbreak. Hope. Hilarity. Humiliation.” She goes on to say that “Strong writing is rooted in emotion and imagination. The best writing inspires a vivid depth of feeling.” This becomes particularly salient later when she writes a letter to her dad, and it soon becomes clear why the focus of this book is writing craft through memory. I don’t want to give too many spoilers, but if you read it, you will need a full box of tissues for that part.
Sepetys’s advice on craft is short, sweet, simple, and illustrated in clear examples. She also ends every chapter with a summary. For someone just starting out these chapters provide an accessible introduction to writing narrative pieces and doing research. The most valuable part of the book are the prompts–both conspicuous and inconspicuous. Each section ends with a few prompts for you to write to. Then, she includes “Stories to Uncover and Discover.” This section is also a form of prompt to pique your curiosity and get your imagination going.
Ruta Septeys leads by example in this craft book by putting her own vulnerable experiences out there as examples of how to use some of the most common elements and devices in a story, and she provides ample jumping-off points for writers using this book.
While You: The Story could be an excellent resource for memoirists, it’s just as good for a new novelist looking for inspiration or a seasoned novelist looking for prompts that could lead to a fresh perspective. Ruti Septeys’s writing is compelling and vulnerable and I found myself totally sucked into every chapter. That’s a new feeling for me with a craft book.
I highly encourage anyone who is just getting started to read You: The Story as well as those who are walking among us and feeling tired and uninspired. Banish the “Bitter Bettys” as she calls them and come read this book. You won’t regret it.
You: The Story: A Writer’s Guide to Craft Through Memory by Ruta Sepetys is available in paperback and digital formats.
Photo credit Rachel Kinney.
