Lessons from Artists: Agatha Christie Mallowan

What she teaches us about writing, life, and learning

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I enjoyed reading Agatha Christie’s archaeological memoir, Come, Tell Me How You Live, because it was informative, instructive, and dry. I was pleased that such a great writer could put together a work that was simply a compilation of her life’s journals. The memoir isn’t terribly exciting or life changing, but in it we can still learn a few lessons making the book worth your time.

A lesson for writers.

Christie teaches us how to describe everything. Christie notes that the book is a compilation of every day happenings and she uses her power of description to tell us about the adventure of traveling with her husband to Syria and observing and participating in his archeological digs. If one were to read this book they would be equipped to better describe everything. Christie teaches us something about tempo. This book runs slow like the train she rode to her far away destination. It is steady and strong, but it takes its time getting through each scene of her adventure. She gives us permission to write a story that reads like a slow steady drip.

Agatha started the book, but then put it aside for four years until the war was over. This demonstrates the amount of a time even a simple work…