Alex Boyd on modeling Orwell's clear, accessible style in writing

Author Alex Boyd helped establish Best Canadian Essays, co-editing the first two collections. His books of poems are Making Bones Walk (2007) and The Least Important Man (2012).

Canadian writer Alex Boyd

In 2018 his first novel was published: Army of the Brave and Accidental, described by Canadian Notes & Queries as “timely, original and profound.” His book of essays collecting over twenty-five years of essays and reviews is called Take This for the Pain: Essays on Writing and Life and published in June, 2026 by Palimpsest Press.

A clear, accessible style in writing

OCW: What life experiences have shaped your writing style?

AB: When it comes to George Orwell, there’s a lot of discussion about 1984 and Animal Farm for understandable reasons, but I read the Penguin Essays of Orwell long ago and found them to be model essays: clear, concise and meaningful. Orwell can talk about magazines that are no longer around and it’s interesting. I published my first essay in the Globe and Mail in 1999 and thought "That was fun, but I’ll write another essay when I think I have a really good idea for one." Here we are. I’ve tried to model Orwell’s clear, accessible style in writing about faith, jobs, public spaces and much more in my new book Take This for the Pain: Essays on Writing and Life.

Diverse reading habits and the value of short form

Take This for the Pain by Alex Boyd is published by Palimpsest Press

OCW: Which authors and/or types of books do you like to read?

AB: I don’t get to history as often as I’d like, but I read memoirs and some narrative nonfiction. I think stand-alone graphic novels can be great, and I’d recommend Clyde Fans by Seth. And then I read novels, story collections and poetry. One of my essays in the book covers what it’s like to work in a bookshop with quotes from Orwell on the same subject, and I mention the way people sometimes turn down poetry and stories saying they want something they can luxuriate in, like a bath. I get it, but poetry and story collections have so many ideas, so much more value for the money, in a way. And if you really don’t like the one you’re reading, you can skip it.

OCW: What advice/guidance would you give to writers?

AB: I think “read widely” is pretty standard, but I’d tell beginning writers to stay off social media as much as possible until ready to publish a book, both because it short-circuits the attention span and because I think the best and most timeless books ever published were probably written in a state absolutely oblivious to what everyone is talking about. Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer book reviews, so once you’ve written a book being on social media is increasingly required, and I can’t help but feel there’s a quality of quiet desperation to so many writers promoting ourselves online.

Navigating social media and AI as a contemporary writer

OCW: Do you see generative AI as a threat or benefit to writers?

AB: There’s an Orwell essay called “Politics and the English Language” I think every writer should read, and at one point it mentions how easy it is to assemble a series of standard expressions – a bit like linking up train cars – and then they’re doing your thinking and writing for you. It’s early days and I’m not an expert, but in a nutshell, that’s what I see as potentially deeply problematic about relying on AI, or really relying on anything else for quick answers.

We already turn far too often to sweeping generalizations, and I’m concerned that asking something else to assemble ideas for us will rely on and reinforce too many generalizations about people, nationalities, etc. I don’t think AI is going to say, “There’s no easy answer to that question, why don’t you read five books about it?” Hopefully I’m wrong, but it already seems people are screaming at each other from different hilltops. Maybe that’s social media (where moderate opinions don’t get as much attention) and AI can work to correct it.

OCW: Do you edit as you write, or write and edit later?

AB: I find writing difficult, because I can’t help but craft as I write and so the whole thing moves along pretty slowly. The American poet William Stafford (who writes with great reverence) said to be worthy of the reader’s time, so even knowing I can go back and shape it later, I find it difficult to fire off thousands of words without knowing where I’m going. When I wrote a novel, I borrowed the basic plot from the Odyssey but also wrote the last couple of chapters early on so I knew what I was working towards. It’s an approach I haventhe tried with stories, but it certainly might be worth a shot. And as I’ve mentioned my new essay collection got started in 1999. I’ll try to stop rushing out my books!