War Stories

In a recent conversation, the poet and short story writer Carla Panciera described how it took her 30 years to publish her beautiful memoir Barnflower. It’s a somewhat unusual book, being a collection of separate stories based on her experience being raised on a cattle farm in Rhode Island. Publishers and agents were skeptical of the form, all of whom wanted her to turn it into one story with a single narrative arc, which it wasn’t.

I was reminded of Karl Marlantes, whose celebrated Viet Nam novel Matterhorn also took about 30 years to find a publisher. For decades he was told no one wanted to read about that contentious war, or that it would be better if he could set it in Iraq or Afghanistan. He eventually found a tiny independent publisher in San Francisco, the book won a big award, and was reissued by Grove Atlantic press where it went on to become a bestseller. Apparently, people did want to read about that contentious war.

I love and fear these stories. I always enjoy hearing about publishing professionals being wrong, and about writers not giving up on books they believe in. Then again, I also like hearing about true overnight successes, the authors who sell their first book. Oh, the ease of it. Just write a novel and sell it, without all the drama and uncertainty. There’s a kind of romance to believing in a book for year after year, but that’s a lot of time to doubt and despair.

That’s exactly what Karl Marlantes described. Carla at least wrote and published fiction and poetry while she shopped her memoir off and on for all that time. Matterhorn had been Karl’s only book. He had a whole career in business while he wrote and submitted it. I sat with him in his living room as he pointed to the floor where he’d laid out pages of the novel, trying to arrange it into something publishable. Yet here he we were, getting ready to shoot an interview. He smiled and shook his head talking about all he’d been through.

Though different, he might as well have been talking about the war. Both were over, and both had left their impressions on him. But they were definitely over. Now, there was just a conversation to have with an interested interviewer. Now, there were more books to write. I have my own war stories, as do you, I’m sure. All these stories are etched with suffering, whose greatest threat is the fear it will never end.

Check out Fearless Writing with Bill Kenower on YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt
You can find William at: williamkenower.com