Don’t Just Write…CREATE!!!

When you write any type of fiction you are not simply telling a story, you are creating an entire world. A world that is completely unique and filled with anything you can imagine. This could be rather simple or extremely difficult depending on the genre you are writing. If it is going to be a magical land of fantasy it may take a lot more planning and detail than if it is a more contemporary representation of our world. Either way, a setting has to be created and all the details need to be planned out in a way that will make sense.

Next is the creation of the characters, but in doing this you are not just creating characters, you are creating people. They each have to be their own person with their own distinct personality. You want to create characters that the reader can believe in. Characters your reader can in some way relate to. They need to fit into the world you created and be believable in the story you are going to tell. If the reader cannot get into the characters, they will never get into the story.

Finally, there is the story itself. This is the essence of your creation and is going to bring all the other parts together as a singular entity. This is the part that becomes a little more difficult. Although I said as a writer you are creating this entire world and everything in it, you do not want that to be the feeling you give to the reader. When you are creating all these elements and fitting them together you want to give the reader the feeling that they have entered into something that is real. You want them to be uncontrollably pulled from their own reality and into the story. You want them to feel like they were invited into a world that exists completely independent from them. A reality that was there before the story took place and will continue to go on after it is over.

These are some of the things that can make a good story a great story. You don’t want your fiction to feel like fiction. When readers relate to the story, and care about the characters, they enjoy their reading experience that much more.

The Short Story: Dead or Alive?

This is my first attempt at making a real blog post. Most of my others are fiction based or responses to prompts and challenges. With this one I am just going to write. Hopefully I don’t bore you too much.

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What happened to the short story in American literature? We all remember growing up reading the classics. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe, Washington Irving and so many more, but it seems like there aren’t any new short stories out there. Well, there are…

The problem as I see it is not that there aren’t any new short stories being written, it is that the culture of reading has changed a bit in the United States. Everyone seems to always be looking for that next big hit. The trending novel that everyone has to read. I get that, but as a result I am afraid the way people look at stories has changed.

When people look at short stories today (and this is purely my own opinion) I feel like they don’t look at them as books. Well you know what America… You shouldn’t…but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve respect for what they are. The short story is not meant to be the next big craze. It is meant to entertain. To give the joy of a satisfying story, with good characters that you can relate to, a strong plot, and do so all in a single sitting. That’s not easy. From a writer’s point of view that can actually be very difficult. To tell an entire story in a limited number of words, and get in everything they need to, one could rip their hair out. When you write, you create an entire world. You create people with individual lives and personalities. There is a lot that goes into it, and to set a limit on how much detail you can use in articulating that world is challenging.

The good news is that the short story is still alive and well. Thanks to the modern technology of eBooks and self-publishing, there are so many amazing indie writers out there making their stories available to the world. However, short stories are not only an art of the indie writer (although they are my personal favorite). Plenty of mainstream writers, such as Stephen King, T.C. Boyle and too many others to name, are still putting out shorter fictions between novels. So check out Amazon, or Barnes and Noble, or whatever your favorite book source is and check out the short story section. Remember…it doesn’t have to be long to be a great. And even if it’s not the next earth-shattering, teen loving novel…it might one day be a classic.

The Dreamer

I have always been considered a bit of a dreamer. Growing up, no matter where I was, I could always just drift off into my own world. At school it was called day-dreaming, at home they called it an active imagination. To me it was just normal.

Naturally, because of this, as I got older I became interested in all sorts of writing in an attempt to channel this 'creativity'. Some I excelled in more than others, but eventually I stopped writing on a regular basis.

It had always been a plan of mine to write again, but it kept getting pushed back by things in 'the real world'. It seemed like there would always be time to write, and I could do it whenever I wanted. But if that were true, then why wasn't I doing it?

Then, one day at my 'real job,' in that 'real world' I was talking about, I transferred to a new unit in my company. There I met someone who had published a book of what he described as an original collection of urban poetry and story-telling. Instantly it came up in conversation and I responded with a statement that every writer hears all too often...

"I've always wanted to write a book."

He looked at me and said, "so why haven't you?"

I responded with just about every generic excuse you could think of and he simply said, "the only thing stopping you is you."

He was right! I found that simple statement to be immensely inspiring and that week I started writing again. I truly believe everyone has at least one great story inside of them. The trick is getting it out for the world to enjoy. Through that one statement I came to realize our biggest obstacles are ourselves and our insecurities.

Just as I have remembered my dream, I urge everyone who reads this to do the same. Face those insecurities that have stopped you until now and push through them. You may surprise yourself!