The three bars I want my writing to hit are density, compression, and lightness. Two of these qualities seem directly opposed, I’m aware, but some writers capture all three of these things. I want to be one of them.
I find it’s hard to talk frankly about writing the book, as in, the actual writing, because when I imagine writing “what I want to achieve is this, and what I don’t want is that,” I also imagine somebody bookmarking it to quote in a future review. (“On her Substack, McClay feverishly documented minute details of her process and expressed exalted goals for her work; admirable goals, certainly, but not in evidence.…”)
Something I do a lot is use techniques from “outside” of writing to think about what I’m trying to do with writing:1 vocal layering, pastry baking, supersaturation, ballet…. The vocal layering comparison, in particular, has been useful when I work because I find that I do lay a “base” and then keep editing details over it. (“McClay has repeatedly used the comparison of vocal layering and indeed that comparison is instructive when it comes to the book’s failures.”)2 When I edit somebody else, or myself, I talk about tempo a lot. Mary McCarthy has a line about Elizabeth Hardwick somewhere to the effect of “her essays have plots,” and that’s another mental touchstone for me, though that one is in fact about writing.
The other reason not to talk about the writing process is just that the manuscript is not even close to done… it’s not even close to a third done! I could realize this approach is a bad idea and then do something else. Still, this stuff is what I’ve been thinking about. And “stuff I’ve been thinking about” is the one and only topic of this newsletter. So.… But please don’t take what follows as my definitive statement on writing biography, a thing I have not actually done at this point in time, just how I’m currently approaching it (an approach which may eventually be subject to change).
I’m going to paywall the rest of this because it’s a little ~vulnerable~ but as usual if you are a regular reader who cannot afford to subscribe you can email me at barbara dot mcclay at gmail and I’ll comp you for a month so you can read.