Isabel Allende Marries Discipline with Masterful Storytelling
Melinda Palacio -- January 12, 2007
Ink Byte caught up with Isabel Allende. She spoke to a crowded audience at Borders in Northridge. Store Managers must not have been aware that tickets to hear Allende speak at the Skirball the next evening were sold out. Over a hundred fans came to hear Allende and have their books signed. People squatted around the store and snaked up the staircase, about two dozen eager fans found seats. Allende, author of 16 novels charmed the audience and freely answered questions about her books and her writing process.
The Chilean author starts every new book on January 8. For her, it is a matter of both discipline and superstition. With her subject in mind, she searches for the right tone. "In a novel, the tone is the most important aspect," said Allende. "It's the tone that determines how the book will feel and how it will be remembered."
Allende doesn't dillydally or wait for an inspirational epiphany to begin her writing. She locks herself in her office. There's no phone and she doesn't answer email. She lights a candle, because she doesn't use clocks or watches. Her computer has an alarm that goes off every 45 minutes so she can get up and stretch. Occasionally, her husband brings her something to drink, but she is usually alone and works diligently for 8 to 10 hours a day. In her sequestered space, she writes the moving stories she has become famous for, The House of Spirits, Daughter of Fortune, and Paula, to name a few.
Isabel Allende at Borders
"I write for the pleasure of telling a story. I write in a quiet, intimate, passionate voice. I don't have a script; I only have a time and a place. Two weeks go by and nothing. And then the characters do things. When characters surprise you, when the story takes a turn, go write the story because the story knows how to do it."
In classic Allende charm, she made the audience laugh when she explained that she wrote, dreamt, and made love in Spanish. "I would feel ridiculous panting in English," she said, causing a round of laughter.
With so many books behind her, one wonders where Allende finds characters and stories who take over the hard work for her. Her story ideas come from divers subjects. Of course, Paula and The House of Spirits were based on her own family. However, her last novel, Zorro was a project that the keepers of Zoro's estate and legacy commissioned.
Her latest novel, Inés of My Soul is about Inés Suárez, a Spanish conquistadora whose vital role in building the nation of Chile has often been neglected. The female conquistador did not learn to read or write until she was 40. She had the gift of being a doucer and she saved the city of Santiago from the first major Indian attack against the indigineous Chileans. Suárez begins a love affair with Pedro Valdivia, field marshal to famed conquistador, Francisco Pizarro.
When the characters stop doing things, Allende keeps working on the novel. She rewrites and reworks the book until she can no longer take it, until the characters force her to lose interest in them. "I never finish a book," she said. "I just give up. And then I'm so tired of them, I hate them." A small smile betrays the passion and genuine love she has for her books and characters.