Not Only Fiction

Up until now, the focus of this blog has been entirely on documenting my advice with regard to the fiction writing process, and what young writers can do to grow their skills in crafting novels or short stories. However, this pretty clearly leaves out half of what writing can be used to achieve: the telling of true, non-fictitious stories. I consider myself a big fiction guy, but it is impossible to argue that non-fiction is not any more powerful than its more creative counterpart. As a matter of fact, I have been a big proponent of journalling for years as a method for self-reflection and deep emotional processing. Writing about ourselves and our experiences without any layer of exaggeration can be among the best ways to get in touch with our feelings and truly understand ourselves, which is of course invaluable in the creation of fictional stories. As such, any serious writer should seek to not only gain a grasp on the finer points of creating a compelling character, but also a degree of significant self-knowledge, as this will allow for more natural portrayals of human thought and action. Non-fiction writing also allows for practice in conveying an interesting narrative that keeps a reader hooked, which is of course citical for any story. This I personally practiced extensively while working on an opinion essay last summer that was eventually picked up by The Seattle Times. As it turns out, knowledge of the ins and outs of writing either fiction and non-fiction can help one write more skillfully with the other, as at the end of the day, everybody wants stories to feel real, and everybody wants the truth to feel like a story.