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Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
“Faulkner, You Don’t Have a Story to Tell!”
To get you ultra-ready and inspired for NaNoWriMo, literary expert Celia Blue Johnson—author of the new book Dancing with Mrs. Dalloway: Stories of Inspiration Behind Great Works of Literature—has a few behind-the-scenes anecdotes to share about those classic novels we know and love. (Here’s Part 1.)
No, you didn’t misread the heading above. William Faulkner’s publisher sent him a rejection letter that would prompt most writers to pick a new career path. Even worse: Faulkner thought he had created a masterpiece. The book was Flags in the Dust and it was written on the heels of Faulkner’s second book, Mosquitoes. It wasn’t long after Faulkner submitted the manuscript to Horace Liveright of Boni and Liveright that he received a negative response, culminating in the following sentence: “My chief objection is that you don’t seem to have any story to tell and I contend that a novel should tell a story and tell it well.” Surprisingly, Faulkner didn’t quit. With his professional career at a standstill, he decided to write for himself. Faulkner recalled the career-altering moment: “One day I seemed to shut a door between me and all publishers’ addresses and book lists. I said to myself, Now I can write.” And he wrote The Sound and the Fury, his best known work today.
