When it comes to authors with a very distinct voice on the page, James Ellroy is one I could definitely pick out of a lineup. During the pandemic, my roommate lent me his collection of Ellroy's novels, and I sat down and gobbled up all the dirty cops, dangerous dames, and dastardly killers. There's a reason Ellroy's work gets adapted into great movies and TV shows; he draws some of the best characters and weaves some of the best plots. But today, I want to focus on something he said in an interview that not enough writers do, which would totally help them out. Let's dive in. James Ellroy on Reading Aloud There was this thing I'd do when I was reading Ellroy for the first time, where I would turn to someone in the room and have to read a passage aloud. Apparently, that's always been the intention. In the above interview, Ellroy detailed the painstaking process he undertakes to achieve what he describes as a "perfect overlay of theme, moral content, style, outrageousness, import, spirituality, and characterization."Yeah, it takes a lot of effort to do that. For Ellroy, the sound of language is paramount. So, he emphasizes a continuous practice of reading his work aloud, ensuring that each sentence is perfected before moving to the next. It makes the sound of his words echo and it really shows that his prose is lyrical and sucks the audience in. When I talk to newer writers or read their work, I...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Yesterday