Francine Prose?

I never finish reading Reading like a writer, by Francine Prose. Even with all the accolades her books have received throughout her career, I took her novel lightly. It was one of those books that I would keep in my aged shelf under the dust, but I knew it would enhance my writing style and be an inspirational source of writing. But after attending “A Reading and Conversation with Francine Prose”, I found myself absorbed into the content of the book. “I want to be like Francine Prose,” I thought to myself while reading the book on the ride home. The event not only changed my perception of Francine Prose but also my understanding of good writing.

“I couldn’t do anything else…I can’t even drive…I was a huge reader…I like to write,” Francine Prose responded after a student asked “why you know you are going to be a writer?” She answered with such openness which I have never expected from someone of her statue. It was those simple few words that drove me to read the book again. I want to be become an active reader so that one day I might just have the courage to call myself a writer.

“I wrote 130 drafts for Goldengrove.” Francine Prose’s painless response fascinated me. The idea that she changed her mind 130 times during the course of revising goldengrove inspired me to consider writing as a continuing process instead of a temporary push for perfection. She also used the examples of works from Shakespeare to emphasize that “sentences are timeless.” The fact that Francine Prose didn’t consider herself as a writer three years after publishing her first piece displayed her humbleness that many of other writers don’t have.

I still didn’t finish Reading like a writer. The book becomes a new meaning to me after the event that it’s not only a book about writing but also about the determination to succeed in writing. I realize that no essay or piece of literature is perfect; it is the thought process and the continuing battle of the mind that intrigue the readers. As I continue to search and master the skill of writing, I truly hope that one day my writing will transcend through time and tell a story of my own.