Writing Fiction to Understand Fiction

    We read too much as readers and as students.  We need to start reading as writers, true writers.  And to accomplish that we need to write.  We need to write fiction to understand fiction.

FICTION!!!! NOOOO!!!!!!

     So you're going to write a personal narrative, similar to Alexie's Absolutely True Diary.  A personal narrative is distinguished by a strong first person voice and action centered around one character's thoughts and emotions. TODAY YOU ARE  GOING TO SPEND TWENTY OF THE HARDEST MINUTES OF YOUR LIFE TO WRITE FICTION!!!

      Technique-wise, think about two things.  First, I'd like you to start with a line from True Diary.  Here are a few to begin: 

I was born with ____________ on the brain.

Traveling between ___________and _________, between the little white town and the reservation, I always felt like a stranger.  

Nobody knew the truth.  

I almost didn’t try out for the team.  

I was a joyous freak.  

She was trying to live out her dream.  

I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my _________ are like lifeboats.  

Second, think about the strategy of show, don't tell. Show the reader ideas, don't just spoon-feed them where you want them to go. Here's a good explanation of show, don't tell from @GrammarGirl on twitter.

Your writing will act as a first draft for your third blog assignment.

     

      But let's get one thing clear.  This assignment is about you and your creativity and style as a writer.  You can write about almost anything.  You can write as any person.  Think about this line from John Ashberry: "I write with experiences in mind, but I don't write about them, I write out of them."  Obviously, your writing will draw on your own thoughts and ideas, but the line between fiction and non-fiction should be blurred.  

     

     The truth is this.  All writing is just a story.  And stories are beyond being real and unreal.  They are just stories.  Tell a good story.