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On Writing Fiction – 100 Words x 2 + Questions

Résumé: Letters and notes, e-mail messages, newspaper articles, poetry, blog posts and comments, business proposals, promotional material, journal entries, essays, and, when this exercise is complete, 100 words.

All non-fiction.

I seem to have a mental block when it comes to writing fiction, and in fact have written nothing that wasn’t truth (or based on truth) since creative writing assignments in high school. Ancient history.

Curious: Does this block stem from an innate inability to “lie” (though I greedily devour others’ “lies”)? Perhaps fear of failure? Relentless comparison of self with others? Ease of intimidation?

Hopefully this exercise will enlighten.

100 Words, 05/01/2008

 


 

I believe I just had an insight into why – in part, at least – I struggle with writing fiction.

Even though I recognize that tension and conflict draw in and hook the reader, I don’t know how to bring a character into the world and then allow bad things to happen to them.

I suspect that my desire for only good and beautiful and pleasant things for my characters would make my stories very dull.

So how does a writer let go… permit the characters to tell their story… without trying to control the process?

I must give this more thought.

100 Words, 05/19/2008

 


 

Are you strictly a non-fiction writer?
Have you ever been able to make the transition to fiction?
If so, how did you do it?

Any insights? Please share!

Laurel Storey, CZT – Certified Zentangle Teacher. Writer, reader, tangler, iPhoneographer, cat herder, learner of French and Italian, crocheter, needle felter, on-and-off politics junkie, 80s music trivia freak, ongoing work in progress.