By any measure, beloved Chilean-American writer Isabel Allende has had a hugely successful literary career. She is the author of some 30 works of fiction in an assortment of genres --- from historical fiction to a crime novel --- along with nonfiction. All told, her books have been translated into 42 languages and have sold more than 80 million copies. STORY TELLING is a modest but entertaining book that’s a sort of retrospective of her career, blending memoir with commentary on her work and writing process and bits of instruction that many writers will find useful in advancing their own efforts.

Allende traces the genesis of the book to a 2024 request by the BBC to record a program, “Magical Storytelling.” This allowed her to organize what she calls her “chaotic approach” to writing into 20 craft lessons. In her book, she modifies that structure, proceeding in a loosely constructed fashion through the various elements of fiction, including subjects like generating ideas, structuring a work, developing plots and creating memorable characters. 

"Even if one favors a more structured approach to writing than [Allende's], this infectious enthusiasm for the writing life provides the sort of encouragement that most writers need at some point in their endeavors."

At the conclusion of each of the book's 10 chapters, Allende appends a brief section entitled “Some Suggestions,” distilling her advice into easily comprehensible nuggets that are, above all, eminently practical. An example of her dozens of tips: “Research is your foundation. It is the stage on which your characters will act. It should blend seamlessly with the plot. Don't overwhelm the reader with information, stick to the story.” And one more: “Be careful with happy endings, unless you are writing a romance novel. Happiness should be relative and conditioned to reflect the real world. It works better.”

For Allende, writing has always possessed something of an obsessive quality. “My purpose is to write,” she says, “I have no other.” If she were deprived of that opportunity, “my soul would shrivel.” That passion for the written word infuses every page of this book, as she makes it clear that showing up for work daily in front of a blank page, rather than awaiting a lightning bolt of inspiration, offers the only hope of consistent writing progress. “You are not a writer until you write,” she observes. And in an example of her sometimes mystical approach, she urges writers to “trust the process. Once you get started the universe will conspire to help you.”

It's perhaps in this respect that Allende's book can serve as a most useful tool for both aspiring and established writers. Even if one favors a more structured approach to writing than hers, this infectious enthusiasm for the writing life provides the sort of encouragement that most writers need at some point in their endeavors. 

Alongside this material, Allende intersperses stories of her vibrant life. Among the most dramatic was her decision to abandon her career as a journalist in Chile and flee after the 1973 military coup that deposed the country's socialist government. From her new home in Venezuela, she began a letter to her dying grandfather that gradually transmuted into what would become her 1982 debut novel, THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS. Allende confesses to navigating both her writing and her life in the same fashion: “with uncertainty and improvisation.” Though far from the exclusive source of her material, she emphasizes the important role that family history has played in generating plots and characters, and readers who have enjoyed her novels will appreciate those revelations.

In the concluding pages of STORY TELLING, Allende, who is now 84, announces that she plans to return to a memoir about her life after 2007 that she was working on before she embarked on this project. It's a book that she hopes will “transform the disappointment of a divorce into adventure, and the tenacious stalking of age into liberation.” No doubt it will appeal to readers hungry for a deeper excursion into the details of her fascinating journey. For those interested in slightly less of that story and instead more focus on Allende's craft, this one will fit the bill nicely.