4 Writing Lessons from Carmen Maria Machado’s ‘In the Dream House’
Reading a great book with a writer’s mind can teach you many secrets about writing
TW: This article contains mentions of domestic abuse.
Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House inspired me to write a third of my upcoming poetry collection in one week. However, it has nothing to do with poetry, and it is not a handbook for writers, far from it.
I had forgotten how inspirational and thought-provoking a well-written book could be. Especially because it’s not a work of fiction, Machado’s memoir becomes even more valuable.
I read almost everything with a writer’s eye. I can’t help it. When something works for me, I like to reflect upon what the author succeeded in doing so well. What can I learn from that?
This is how In the Dream House became what I now consider one of my key points of reference in writing. It was that good.
Only one of these four key lessons in writing is actually written as such. The rest of them are only implied and, depending on what you’re looking for and how hard you search for it, you can find them in the substrate of the book rather than in its main plot.
