As a child, he gravitated to books such as Robinson Crusoe and Lost on a Mountain in Maine. "I wanted to get lost and write a book about it," he said. "The idea of being lost, being away, being an adventurer, that made me a writer as much as a reader." Theroux, 68, one of the best-known writers of travel narratives, said he was encouraged in his dreams by his father, who disdained television and sports and wanted his seven children to experience life for themselves. "When I joined the Peace Corps," Theroux recalled, "[my father's] gift to me was saying, 'Go and write me letters.'" "I spent the 1960s in Africa. It was a turbulent time in the States, but I was looking at it from another continent; it was like it was another planet. Africa was the making of me as a writer." One thing a writer doesn't necessarily need is a computer. "There's a certain physicality to writing [longhand] that you don't get" using a computer, he said. Ultimately, his suggestions were simple. "Leave home. Tell the truth," he said. "You'll be all right." Author Paul Theroux served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi in the 1960's.
Paul Theroux says "Leave home. Tell the truth. You'll be all right."
Paul Theroux's main advice to writers: Leave the House
Author Paul Theroux had one major piece of advice to the writers -- both professional and aspiring -- gathered Friday night for the fifth annual Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Writers Conference in Grapevine: Get the heck out of the house. "
Speaking before a sold-out audience of about 300 at Austin Ranch, across the street from the main conference activities at the Hilton DFW Lakes hotel, Theroux - bestselling author of nearly 50 fiction and nonfiction books, including The Mosquito Coast and Ghost Train to the Eastern Star - wandered through the story of his life and inspirations for roughly 90 minutes. But he kept returning to his main theme that the only way to truly become a writer is to leave the familiar behind.
As a child, he gravitated to books such as Robinson Crusoe and Lost on a Mountain in Maine. "I wanted to get lost and write a book about it," he said. "The idea of being lost, being away, being an adventurer, that made me a writer as much as a reader."
Theroux, 68, one of the best-known writers of travel narratives, said he was encouraged in his dreams by his father, who disdained television and sports and wanted his seven children to experience life for themselves.
"When I joined the Peace Corps," Theroux recalled, "[my father's] gift to me was saying, 'Go and write me letters.'"
"I spent the 1960s in Africa. It was a turbulent time in the States, but I was looking at it from another continent; it was like it was another planet. Africa was the making of me as a writer."
One thing a writer doesn't necessarily need is a computer. "There's a certain physicality to writing [longhand] that you don't get" using a computer, he said.
Ultimately, his suggestions were simple. "Leave home. Tell the truth," he said. "You'll be all right."
The Mayborn conference continues through Sunday. Public-radio personality and author Ira Glass speaks tonight. His appearance is sold-out.
