Herman Wouk was awarded the first Library of Congress Lifetime Achievement Award for the Writing of Fiction. That’s pretty impressive. He may be best known for writing The Caine Mutiny, but I only knew that as a film.
The book that captured me was Youngblood Hawke. I was thinking about making writing an important part of my life and one of my favorite authors was Thomas Wolfe. Wouk’s book inspired me.
Later I read The Winds of War and War and Remembrance and was sucked into the stories. I analyzed them to try to understand their storytelling power.
When I was in my “religious exploration” phase, I read Wouk’s This is My God. It helped me understand Judaism.
I have pre-ordered Sailor and Fiddler: Reflections of a 100-Year-Old Author. I’m prepared to be awed and inspired.
I find it a bit of amazing that I haven’t sought Wouk’s wisdom for this series earlier, but I haven’t. Here is one powerful bit of writing wisdom from one of the great writers of my lifetime.
“I try to write a certain amount each day, five days a week. A rule sometimes broken is better than no rule.”
Want more? Check out the complete list of Advice from the Masters posts