The Thorn Necklace: An In-Depth and Personal Review

I was recently fortunate enough to read the newest book written by the goddess of prose, Francesca Lia Block. It is titled The Thorn Necklace: Healing Through Writing and the Creative Process. 

"In this long-anticipated guide to the craft of writing, Block offers an intimate glimpse of an artist at work and a detailed guide to help readers channel their own experiences and creative energy. Sharing visceral insights and powerful exercises, she gently guides us down the write-to-heal path, revealing at each turn the intrinsic value of channeling our experiences onto the page."

Named for the painting by Frida Kahlo, who famously transformed her own personal suffering into art, The Thorn Necklace offers lessons on life, love, and the creative process.

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When I started reading the book, I'll admit that I was a bit turned off by the palpability that it was a "how to" book, assuming that it would read like a text book, or worse, as an arrogant instruction manual. As a teacher, I've read through waaaaay too many of those types of texts(ahem, Lucy Calkins), and and this presumption kept the book unread by my chair for a few weeks before I bit the bullet and picked it up. I like my FLB books full of potent imagery, lyrical language, and bursting with magic and glitter. I was disappointed that I wasn't going to be getting this.

The Foreword (Four Simple Words, written by Grant Faulkner)was dry and cliche, vaguely positive and uplifting in a "You can do it! You ARE a writer!" FacebookPost kind of way ("The path to holding onto your truth is charted in this book" p.x) and I thought "Yep, this is going to be a book I'm not going to finish." I scanned through the 5 pages, and was finally about to burst into the "actual" book. 

The first line. 

'My father had always supported my creative endeavors, but I never knew how much until, weak with radiation treatments, his frail voice boomed through the earpiece of the dorm room telephone. "You are a writer!"'

Ripe with imagery. Lyrical. My heart fluttered. Was I wrong? 
It continues. 

"I stood clinging to the phone like a lifeline. Black-mascara tears streaked my face and my stomach hurt from the mounds of white rice and tofu I ate each night in the cafeteria and the copious amounts of liquor the dorm RAs had provided to their underage charges the night before."

 Oh, yes, Ms. Block, you have not let me down! 

Through flashback-style storytelling, the reader gets sprinkles of advice on how to strengthen the elements of their writing, while being given an honest glimpse into the life of Ms. Block. It could be described as an autobiography with the added bonus of getting tricks of the trade from a true literary master. 

This guide, this story, this actual gander into the real-life of a woman whom I love madly, was phenomenal. Whenever I have read any of her novels, short stories, or poems, I have always wondered what went on behind the scenes. Was FLB really free-spirited, pink loving Weetzie? Was she Witch Baby, with the curly toes and knotted hair? Was she Marina from Wastelands, having dealt with a loved one's suicide? Did she feel overshadowed by her mother and ignored by her father like Echo? 

My secret author-crush book questions...were answered. 

I reveled in the memoir, not only because it felt like she was telling me her innermost secrets, but also because it was written in Ms. Block's trademark stream-of-consciousness writing style, with lilting prose and emotion-provoking imagery. As I had always imagined, there are pieces of her life that are intertwined with many of her novels and short stories. Weetzie Bat is her "alter-ego." Yes, she did feel overshadowed by her beautiful, idolized mother, and lacked attention from her artist father, like Marina. Her much loved and adored father has given Charlie Bat pieces of his aura. Her feelings about herself, and her beauty, and her body, bleed into all of her characters.  

As far as the "teaching" piece, her guidance for writers flowed seamlessly throughout the book. She broke the vital elements of writing into 12 Questions, and in each chapter (named after her own stories), she spotlights one of these elements, incorporating examples from classics like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby, along with books from her own catalogue. She targets aspects of writing such as character gifts and flaws, wants and needs, the arc of the story, the antagonist, the setting, your style of writing, theme, crisis, climax, and resolution, ending with overall Scene. In addition, each chapter encourages would-be-authors to find support within their lives to gain the strength from within to pursue their dreams. The chapter Echo urges writers to Find a Mentor, and Dangerous Angels, a Muse. Blood Roses describes how to Channel Pain into Art, Quakeland insists that you Banish the Critic, and The Frenzy teaches how to put Chaos into Order. Roses and Bones, Guarding the Moon, and Beyond the Pale Motel delve into Developing Your Style, Persevering, and Facing Your Fears. Rough Magick focuses on Love, and The Thorn Necklace advises you to put your Words into Action.

The book ends with 5 pages of Exercises for all aspiring writers to use as a stepping stone to their own creative outputs. One guides the writer to "Write your main character's childhood wound scene, the moment when your character was hurt in some deep way. (pg.267)" The book concludes with the Afterword, The Magic is Within.  

I must say that I, as a writer, have hit not a block, but a BOULDER, and haven't been able to write in many a moon. This book seems to have wedged that boulder a bit, and I have been able to start my creative juices flowing once more. As my writing tends to flow organically, I concede that I am still wary about using the 12 Questions, but the concept of "Channeling Pain into Art" is enticing. The significance of finding support within myself, however, is remarkable, and my primary objective. I can't wait to see what comes next!


Final thoughts...
If you are a fan of Francesca Lia Block's stories, this book is for you! If you have a love affair with her work (as I do), it should already be in your library! Aspiring writers will find this book accessible and supportive. To take it one step further, Ms. Block offers a writing course both at UCLA and online, as well as manuscript consultations and private coaching. You can find out more here.

Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than twenty-five books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association and from the New York Times Book Review, School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly. She was named Writer-in-Residence at Pasadena City College in 2014. Her work has been translated into Italian, French, German Japanese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Portuguese. Francesca has also published stories, poems, essays and interviews in The Los Angeles Times, The L.A. Review of Books, Spin, Nylon, Black Clock and Rattle among others. In addition to writing, she teaches fiction workshops at UCLA Extension, Antioch University,  and privately in Los Angeles where she was born, raised and currently still lives.