A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

George Saunders.

Non-fiction

George Saunders is an unusual writer in that he's made his name writing collections of short fiction. He teaches a course in 19th Century Russian short fiction at Syracuse University. A Swim in the Pond in the Rain is his attempt at distilling that course into a book.

This isn't "How to write". There's no discussion of grammar, theme or the advantages of pantsing vs planning. As Saunder's says in his introduction, "At this level, good writing is assumed..."

So what we have is a book that tries to provide practical advice for that most nebulous writing goal - finding your voice. This is done by systematically dismantling short stories by titans of the genre. By choosing these Russian past masters, he eliminates much (but not all) doubt that anything accidental is happening in the stories.

Saunders gently coaxes us towards a more conscious, self-aware mode of reading. He trains the reader to notice when a story makes them feel something, put an accurate-as-possible name on that feeling and then work out how and why the writer did it.

Seven stories later, the reader will have acquired "...the technical means to become defiantly and joyfully themselves." At least in terms of their writing. Like Stephen King's On Writing, A Swim in a Pond in The Rain contains much in the way of digression, stuff that might not at first seem to have anything to do with the craft of writing but adds a lot in terms of readability and fun.

I can't recommend this book enough for people who want to seriously engage with the mechanics of short story writing. Even if the idea of reading Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy and Gogol leaves you cold, the prinicples uncovered are universal and valuable for any writer to be aware of.