No. 6 (and final) from a series of six things all writers can learn from Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth, based on Laura Miller’s 9 March 2021 article in Slate © 2021 The Slate Group LLC
You don’t have to spell everything out. Not every thought needs to be explained. Sometimes, as they say, action is character and that is sufficient.
The Phantom Tollbooth conveys a fuller world by leaving things out, or leaving them unexplained.
A good example is the tollbooth itself, which mysteriously appears for the hero Milo. We never find out who sent it, nor do we need to.
Writes Miller, “That the tollbooth arrives when needed and departs after it has served its purpose is much more satisfying than, say, a backstory about it being a gift from Milo’s wise but eccentric aunt.”
“The same goes for description,” writes Miller. “Milo is given an envelope that supposedly contains ‘the exact tune George Washington whistled when he crossed the Delaware on that icy night in 1777…sure enough, that’s exactly what was in it.'”
By not giving any more information than that, “Juster creates the space for the reader’s imagination to flourish,” Miller points out.
Posts in this series:
1. Procrastination isn’t always your enemy
3. Don’t be afraid of the big themes
4. No literary genre ever really dies
5. Procrastination IS sometimes your enemy
6. Good writing is as much about what you don’t say
Acknowledgement
In early March 2021 the writer and architect Norton Juster died at the age of 91. He was the author of the beloved fantasy adventure book The Phantom Tollbooth, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer. Shortly afterwards, Laura Miller published the article ‘Six Things All Writers Can Learn from The Phantom Tollbooth’ in Slate as an appreciation of Juster. “Every time I return to the book,” wrote Miller, “I marvel at how beautifully crafted it is, and not just for a kids’ book. There’s plenty that all kinds of writers can learn from Juster’s masterpiece.” I’m basing this series of posts on that article.
