There have been a few writers in my life whose words I absorb. When I am reading their work, I’m not conscious of reading, I just kind of melt into the page and the words and my thoughts become one. Everything they’ve written is in my head not like sentences that have been formulated by someone else, with ideas that I have to consider, weigh up and on which I must form an opinion, but as my own thoughts.

My primary reaction is one of recognition and profound connection. Like meeting someone for the first time, only to discover they’re actually a friend you’ve known for years, and so almost nothing about them is a surprise. Only the superficial details, like where they might be living now, what they’re wearing, how they’ve aged, what job they do, but the real stuff you already know. There is nothing about them that they could hide from you, because you were there all those years ago, you’re an insider.

So this is how I feel when I read Nora Ephron. I think, ‘Of course!’ and then my next thought is, ‘Why didn’t I think to write about that. It’s so obvious.’

Recently I caught myself quoting Nora to a friend. Her famous line, previously spoken by her mother hundreds of times in her life (according to Nora), that everything is copy. And then my friend asked about Nora, and could I recommend anything she’s written. I recommended, ‘I feel bad about my neck.’ And then, as I tend to do, I picked up the book and started to read snippets here and there, and I was reminded again of the genius of Nora Ephron. The genius of writing about the everyday, about the condition of being human. Good writing always seems so effortless. And so I have to concede that what Nora did so well is clearly highly complex. Of course. But there is still a simplicity to it that should guide every bit of writing that is done by everybody.

Of course, Nora was also a comedian. That’s why so much of what she wrote is so easy to read and entertaining. Though she never worked as a comedian, you can tell she had that natural timing, that sense of the ridiculous, and a professional comedian’s nerve for telling it with a straight face. That’s the distinction between real comedians and people who just have a funny story to tell. The comedian will never forget that the performance is just as much a part of the comedy as the gag. A person who just has a funny story to tell will inevitably end up spoiling everything by forgetting they’re not meant to laugh at their own joke. The clip below is a perfect example of Nora as the consummate comedic writer.

Narrative is about telling a story. Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction doesn’t really matter. The point is to have something important to say, to write it in an interesting way, which will make it worth reading. Then, and only then, can you call yourself a writer.

Image: http://alchetron.com/Nora-Ephron-1004359-W