Now more than ever, I’m realizing how important honesty and truth are to me. Even if they can both dig into you like a sharp ice pick, gradually freezing your insides with a forceful gale wind.
This is especially the case with writing; for me, writing has to be truthful in order to strike a cord; it has to come from someplace real. I studied Fiction during grad school, but find myself drawn to Non-Fiction lately, perhaps for that reason.
I guess Non-fiction quenches my need for a dose of real which I just can’t get from fiction sometimes, mainly through the immediacy and narrative reflection given alongside the actual story. There’s something tantalizing about what you are reading being real, bringing to light traditional modes of word-of-mouth storytelling that can place you right into a story.
When writing Fiction, I try to mix in the immediacy that Non-fiction offers by:
1) Writing about true-to-life occurences
2) Make the story collective by depicting the world that is present in the story (including supporting characters and setting)
3) Researching and reflecting the truth on things you don’t know about (i.e. if you want to write about foster care or adoption, find out how it truly works, especially if you have no experience with it)
Writing is one of the most prominent forms of communication and to transmit truth is to transmit life, which ultimately connects us all. As a writer, that is one of my ultimate goals!
The Fearless Wordsmith 