As I watched the closing minutes of the King James Bible Challenge at the Bath Lit Fest (a non-stop reading of Old and New Testaments in the parish church of St Michael Without, lasting 96 hours) I found myself formulating three rules for creative writing. Two of these have already had an airing in this blog recently:
1. Read widely and well. Immerse yourself, as a writer, in the classic writing of the past.
2. Put your self and your work under pressure. Don't be afraid of deadlines.
My third rule of creative writing, inspired by listening to the Book of Revelation being read by Harriet Walter, Ash the Rhymer, and Timothy West, is simply this:
3. Read your work aloud. Subject what you've written to a spoken rendering. It's such a useful test. Can your words hold an audience?
The "Bible Challenge" in Bath was a vivid reminder of the power of prose read out in public. It's not an infallible guide, but if your words can be spoken to an audience of 10 or 20 – or just one – then maybe it will work for others. Reading aloud has this benefit, too. It will iron out glitches, highlight clunky phrasing and expose longueurs.
Such readings will certainly test your narrative to destruction. On the few occasions I've held creative writing classes, getting people to read out their stuff was always the best (and worst) moment of the session.
I note, en passant, that David Mitchell is having his novel The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet read aloud at the Spitalfields literary festival. As well as King James, I know of upcoming readings of Ulysses, Moby-Dick and Bleak House. Is this the beginning of a trend?
