Read, just read. That is the advice given to authors – you must read others, lots of them. It’s one of those wise sayings. You need to see what other authors are doing, and learn and pick up tricks, not saying plagiarism here. But then of course, now, you can listen instead of reading. Indeed, the audiobook market is having a grand old time! But I wonder if as an author, you get the benefit of absorbing what other authors do when you listen rather than read; if listening works as well. I am going to venture and say no.
But for new authors and ongoing authors, reading others is the prescribed thing to do. Luckily for me and most other authors, I think, that just comes naturally. Read books to write books.
The book I am reading at the moment is rewarding me in spades. It is The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. I have already posted a blog about her thoughts as an author of this book. That was before I read it, but after I had heard Ms. Orlean on a podcast. Now I have the book from the library. It is not new, originally published in 1993 with some reprints.
I was expecting a book all about John Laroche, a man involved in a legal case when he was caught with garbage bags full of stolen orchids from a Florida State Park. A big illegal no-no. In fact, Ms. Orlean, a staff writer with The New Yorker, goes way beyond that with a deep dive into the culture of orchid fanatics in Florida. She delves into the botany and into the history and commerce of the orchid trade. She traces the activities and careers of these people who go to all lengths, when not illegal, very morally questionable, to obtain orchids. I am amazed there are any orchids left out in nature after the practice of the plunder of orchids out of the jungles, forests and swamps around the world,. They are then smuggled back to Florida, (and other places in the world,) and most of the plants die on the journey.
For the struggling author in me, Susan Orlean’s descriptions leave me marvelling in admiration. Look at this:
Of an orchid: “…the flower was attached to the plant by a stem that was twisted like a stick of licorice. The petals were plumb and supple and pleasant to touch. The centre of the flower looked like the face of a piglet. I felt as if the plant was looking at me as much as I was looking at it.”
Of the main character: “John Laroche is a tall guy, skinny as a stick, pale-eyed, slouch-shouldered and sharply handsome, in spite of the fact that he is missing all of his front teeth. He has the posture of al dente spaghetti….”
About being in Florida: “The day had slipped into that yellowy hour when the sun is lingering on the horizon still hoping to burn you to death.”
I just marvel at her sense of observation and then her skill in translating that into words. Her subject matter was rich material: the orchids, the obsessed crazy people, the lush jungle and the barren subdivisions of Florida, but wow, did she ever nail it!
All quotes from The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. Ballantine Books, 2014.