Wayson Choy's Visit

“I feel that it’s essential in literature to discover what matters. I can’t say enough about the power of stories to give meaning to one’s life.”

Throughout his visit today, Wayson Choy spoke about paying attention to the “signs” in life and also about what matters in good writing. He also provided us with advice about life in general. By giving us examples of signs in his life, he showed us what type of signs we need to look for in our own lives. He spoke about “connecting points,” and how you must connect one event to another in order to recognize signs and coincidences. He gave us the example of how, when his father was sick, he went across the street from the hospital to get some Kleenex and other items from a store. He remembers the store as a shining light amidst a fog. He recognized this as a sign. After talking to the shop keeper and revealing his concerns about his dying father, the shop keeper told him that his father would be okay, and that he would not die. It turned out that the man from the shop was correct, and Wayson had correctly identified a sign that appeared to him in his life. He encouraged us to look out for these signs and symbols, mentioning that we may have already come across some, but have yet to “connect the points.”

With respect to writing well, and to becoming a successful author, Wayson also provided us with useful advice. He said that there are two things that cause people to want to read your work. He said that writing must have a narrative voice that comes through the writing. A good narrative voice is achieved when the reader forgets that they are reading, and are transported into the image that the author has created. Examples that he gave where this is true are “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and “Harry Potter.” The reader needs to be enchanted to continue reading, and there must always be a rhythm. Of course, the rhythm can easily be broken by the improper use of writing mechanics. Wayson refers to this as “the craft.” His reference to “the craft” lead him to discuss another important point concerning good writing which he called the “narrative drive.” The narrative drive is really a combination of different things of which one aspect is the movement of action, or the “plot”. Wayson describes this as “after the explosion what happened next.” However the more important part that he stressed was how “character development equals emotional development.” A “character is drama,” and characters that grow and change are enlightened. As well, he discussed the importance of having someone else read over your work. He spoke about how sometimes one event will result in another event, and the reader will not understand how they arrived there. He outlined how, when you are writing, you must “unpack” the details that you have left out, or left in your head. In storytelling, you are trying to recreate the image in your head and portray it to the reader. At the end of his visit, he urged us to, “write on!”

Wayson also gave us advice on life. He told us about three outlooks which, if followed and believed, should bring anyone success. The first thing he stressed was that every failure is a learning experience. We must learn from our failures in order to help us move forward. Our failures tell us what we need to accomplish or work on in order to become better at what we do. His other motto, which he described to us as a “life theme” of his, is to never give up and to always propel yourself forward. He demonstrates this through the example of how in his youth he contemplated committing suicide. What made him change his mind is the urge to “find out what happens next.” In giving up, you will never know how far you could have gone. This motto is relevant to any challenge presented to us in life. His last message is that when things are going well you should always remember to look back. This message requires people not to become too enamoured with their successes. By looking back and reflecting, one becomes more humble in future activities and learns not to rely totally on past achievements.

In conclusion, Wayson Choy’s visit was an enlightening experience which opened my eyes to the importance of paying attention to signs, to what really matters in good writing and to different outlooks on how to live one’s life.