If You Want To Write Autofiction, Read This

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2023

Abstract

ng Yourself Down and Getting Up Again is Most Important</h1><p id="4f33">Knausgaard attends a reputed writing academy in Bergen. However, his writing is not having the desired critical response. Dismayed, he drowns his sorrows in alcohol, culminating in him throwing a glass at his brother, square in the face, one of his closest relationships. This marked a period in his life where he was regularly blackout drunk and the suffering that entailed.</p><p id="a621">This perennial struggle is a fact for all writers at all levels. Perhaps the inevitable Medium rejections from a myriad of publications are going to help you develop a thicker skin. This ‘I’ll show them’ attitude that it cultivates, could be the making of you and the difference between the hundreds of thousands of those who write and the minority few that actually succeed.</p><h1 id="431c">3. Think You Can Write? You Probably Can</h1><p id="52a2">To kind of follow on from the last point: If you have a predisposition for words it probably won't leave you. Karl Ove, fed up after consistently bad results, found himself gradually drawn back to writing. The drive to keep writing in the face of rejection, it seems, is innate. You can’t help yourself but be drawn back into battle.</p><p id="c060">I have always been aware that I enjoy writing, throughout school, etc. But didn’t really start it until I was 25. I enjoyed words though. When I was ten, I was required to buy a dictionary for school. I still remember reading it like a book and carrying it around for a considerable period of time, just randomly discovering words. Similarly, when listening to music, I only really appreciate songs with strong, meaningful lyrics. Countless hours have been knocked off by watching Youtube lyric videos. Always lyrics. Even when Knausgaard was frustrated with writing and making no effort, he was consistently drawn back. I believe it was the allure of words.</p><h1 id="58d4">4. Understand People</h1><p id="f9bb">One of the best facets of his writing — one

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I would like to utilize— is his intricate understanding of other people. He captures multiple idiosyncrasies and is always analyzing them in great depth. This classic introvert stance does, however, reveal a brooding exterior. In comparison to his more affable brother, Yngve, Karl Ove comes across as shy and reserved.</p><p id="f604">And, while most extroverts fail to appreciate this introverted attribute, it is his most defining and enduring quality when it comes to his writing as his elaborate analysis of people shines through. That said, when he worked for a brief stint in a psychiatric ward, a nurse there produced one of my favorite quotes when describing his manner, and my own as it happens — <i>Still waters run deep.</i></p><h1 id="43e6">5. You Can Write About Anything</h1><p id="ed0e">The majority of Knausgaard’s writing here is about mundane everyday life. It is an achievement in itself to produce a book where, for long stints, nothing major happens. One thing to note, however, is that it is mired in authenticity.</p><p id="8de9">This shows us that nothing actually has to happen. Besides, everything is happening in his mind. This charitable revealing of his innermost thoughts carries the reader on a transcendental journey, entranced, which binds together the fleeting occasions where something actually does happen. Everybody has such thoughts. You don’t need to endure a catastrophic cathartic experience to pulverize yourself into a creative zone.</p><h1 id="68b9">To Sum Up</h1><p id="58d0">Knausgaard’s work is a fantastic place to start if you have inclinations to writing a novel of your own, especially in the auto-fiction genre. But, many of the lessons above which one could glean from his writing are applicable to all styles.</p><p id="1249">In fact, all of the aforementioned lessons speak to a mentality rather than any natural or technical ‘gift’. Everyone can cultivate these lessons and apply them to their own writing. And that is the mark of a great writer.</p></article></body>

1. Overcoming the Cringe Factor

It hasn’t taken me long to discover that good writing is deeply personal, even embarrassingly so. However, to make headway, it's important to set this aside and write anyway. Overcoming the cringe factor is necessary to succeed. This could also apply to all walks of life.

With that said, if ever you need a lesson in overcoming the cringe factor look no further than Karl Ove Knausgaard. Notorious for extremely personal writing — Knausgaard has pushed the fiction genre to its limit by keeping it more autobiographical than fiction, to the frustration of even his own family — Knausgaard continues in the same vein as his previous books, allowing access to his thoughts during the travails of change; a new relationship, college course, and location. While certainly not necessary to admit that you routinely take a trip to the bathroom in possession of a semi-pornographic magazine, it nevertheless demonstrates the extremes that the author was willing to go in the pursuit of authenticity. And yet, this is what makes his writing stand out.

2. Brushing Yourself Down and Getting Up Again is Most Important

Knausgaard attends a reputed writing academy in Bergen. However, his writing is not having the desired critical response. Dismayed, he drowns his sorrows in alcohol, culminating in him throwing a glass at his brother, square in the face, one of his closest relationships. This marked a period in his life where he was regularly blackout drunk and the suffering that entailed.

This perennial struggle is a fact for all writers at all levels. Perhaps the inevitable Medium rejections from a myriad of publications are going to help you develop a thicker skin. This ‘I’ll show them’ attitude that it cultivates, could be the making of you and the difference between the hundreds of thousands of those who write and the minority few that actually succeed.

3. Think You Can Write? You Probably Can

To kind of follow on from the last point: If you have a predisposition for words it probably won't leave you. Karl Ove, fed up after consistently bad results, found himself gradually drawn back to writing. The drive to keep writing in the face of rejection, it seems, is innate. You can’t help yourself but be drawn back into battle.

I have always been aware that I enjoy writing, throughout school, etc. But didn’t really start it until I was 25. I enjoyed words though. When I was ten, I was required to buy a dictionary for school. I still remember reading it like a book and carrying it around for a considerable period of time, just randomly discovering words. Similarly, when listening to music, I only really appreciate songs with strong, meaningful lyrics. Countless hours have been knocked off by watching Youtube lyric videos. Always lyrics. Even when Knausgaard was frustrated with writing and making no effort, he was consistently drawn back. I believe it was the allure of words.

4. Understand People

One of the best facets of his writing — one I would like to utilize— is his intricate understanding of other people. He captures multiple idiosyncrasies and is always analyzing them in great depth. This classic introvert stance does, however, reveal a brooding exterior. In comparison to his more affable brother, Yngve, Karl Ove comes across as shy and reserved.

And, while most extroverts fail to appreciate this introverted attribute, it is his most defining and enduring quality when it comes to his writing as his elaborate analysis of people shines through. That said, when he worked for a brief stint in a psychiatric ward, a nurse there produced one of my favorite quotes when describing his manner, and my own as it happens — Still waters run deep.

5. You Can Write About Anything

The majority of Knausgaard’s writing here is about mundane everyday life. It is an achievement in itself to produce a book where, for long stints, nothing major happens. One thing to note, however, is that it is mired in authenticity.

This shows us that nothing actually has to happen. Besides, everything is happening in his mind. This charitable revealing of his innermost thoughts carries the reader on a transcendental journey, entranced, which binds together the fleeting occasions where something actually does happen. Everybody has such thoughts. You don’t need to endure a catastrophic cathartic experience to pulverize yourself into a creative zone.

To Sum Up

Knausgaard’s work is a fantastic place to start if you have inclinations to writing a novel of your own, especially in the auto-fiction genre. But, many of the lessons above which one could glean from his writing are applicable to all styles.

In fact, all of the aforementioned lessons speak to a mentality rather than any natural or technical ‘gift’. Everyone can cultivate these lessons and apply them to their own writing. And that is the mark of a great writer.