Tasteful Writing

I love reading books about the craft of writing, especially when I get stumped on one of my writing projects.  I finally reserved at the library a book I've seen referred to numerous times, John Gardner's classic The Art of Fiction.  I've never read any of his novels, but I've read snippets of his writing wisdom and was intrigued enough to crack open this book yesterday.

It's dense, and since I still have Thanksgiving dinner in the bloodstream, perhaps a food analogy is in order.  His book is most easily digested when approached buffet-style (skipping around to to chapters and bits that sound interesting as the fare gets a little heavy).  Here's one regarding his exhortation to write about sensitive events tastefully: 

"To write with taste...is to write with the assumption that one out of a hundred people who read one's work may be dying, or have some loved one dying; to write...so that people understand, sympathize, see the universality of pain, and feel strengthened, if not directly encouraged to live on....If there is good to be said, the writer should remember to say it. If there is bad to be said, he should say it in a way that reflects the truth that, though we see the evil, we choose to continue among the living." [John Gardner, The Art of Fiction]

I've considered this before, especially because both of my novels have narrators who have experienced the death of a loved one.  I don't treat this choice lightly, although it is often used as a short-cut to create tension.  And I've fretted over this recently because of a project I've started which includes physical violence occurring to several characters.

Earlier this week I attended the funeral for a nine-year-old.  The entire community--church members, school teachers, police officers, young children--attended.  I know I'm not the only one going to bed at night thinking about this family's loss, our loss, and what it means to continue on living without a child's laughter or smile.

Writers often talk about remaining conscious of their audience.  Strengthening the reader--not through direct moral preaching, as Gardner also warns against, but with taste and respect for our shared and fragile humanity--is a wise writing wisdom indeed.