New Strategy

It's been forever since I've attempted to write fiction. Even longer since I've gotten anything substantial written. So, I decided that I needed a strategy change.

Before, I switched between two "strategies" for writing fiction. First, I'd wait until I got an idea. Then, I'd either just start writing, or write a really basic outline (~1 page) that told me where I was headed with the story, and then start writing.

Yeah, I know, not a lot of strategy. But, it worked sometimes. And sometimes it didn't. But that's the way things go.

I've decided to write fiction again, with a different strategy.

The first part of this strategy directly fights my short attention span and inability to finish anything that could be called a novel. I'm writing short stories. But, it's still one story: interconnected short stories are a way to deal with my short attention span, and writing something that's kind of a novel, too!

The second part of this strategy is making myself use ideas that already exist instead of waiting for one to float into my head. I printed out twenty-five semi-randomly-selected Postsecrets that I liked. I cut them out and shuffled through them, seeing which ones might fit together into the same story. Then, I put the piles of secrets, each pile representing one story (and the number of secrets ranging from one to six), into an order, making sure that one character or setting from each story could jump into the next (connecting all the stories, in ways to be defined further once I actually started writing). I made each of the nine stories a page in a spiral notebook, and taped in the secrets.

The third part of the strategy is planning. I'm not yet finished with this stage. The idea is, each story gets a second page in the notebook, where I write out the characters and major plot points, sort of a summary page.  I also note the connections to other stories. Part two of the planning stage is writing a more detailed outline for each story, and further exploring the connections between the stories.

And, all the strategy in the world is worthless if you don't actually get some writing done. The actual writing is part four. Cross your fingers that it'll actually happen!

And of course, if part four is completed, part five is editing. I'll be thrilled if I get here. Ecstatic, really. Wish me luck!

I'm excited about this project. I'm sharing here because I think the Postsecret idea could be useful to someone else searching for inspiration. I got my secrets from the current website, this archive website,   and this other archive website.

Why Read Fiction?

This is a college essay I wrote last year, one of my favorite college essays to write, and I thought I’d share it here. (For the record, I got in.)

Pose an original question and answer it. (500 words).

Q: What can we learn from fiction?

A: Most people agree that reading is good for your mind. Many of them, however, also seem to limit that statement to reading non-fiction, and see reading fiction as a waste of one’s time. I would argue, however, that fiction, even when it takes place in a world very different from our own, can be very educational. Certainly, we can learn concrete facts from fiction, about far-off places or historical time periods, but there is much, much more to be gained from reading fiction than what is easily quantifiable by a multiple-choice test.

John Green’s “Looking for Alaska” taught me that everyone has logical reasons and motivations for what they do, even if they just seem irrational from the outside. Alaska, who is as real as anyone I’ve ever known, behaves in erratic, irrational ways, but it all makes sense, knowing the details, and that applies to real life, too; as crazy as people seem, they have their reasons. Fictional characters such as the cast of Siobhan Vivian’s “A Little Friendly Advice” provide invaluable insight into the interactions and relationships between people. Vivian’s book explores in detail familial, friendly, and romantic relationships, and these relationships are far from picture-perfect–they’re true-to-life and messy. It might be impossible to quiz people on social interactions or the reasons for their behavior in reality, but fiction provides us that opportunity.

Harper Lee’s powerful words in “To Kill A Mockingbird” would not communicate her brilliant understanding of humanity half as well if their author didn’t have such skill with words. From fiction, we learn the potency of language and how to best wield that power by expressing ourselves in writing. We learn by example how to articulate our thoughts, hopes, fears, and the stories (fiction and non-fiction) that must be told. We learn to communicate with other people. We learn what methods are effective and which leave the reader bored to tears. Even if one never really pursues writing, the communication skills gained by reading fiction are essential.

Fiction teaches us about possibilities. It teaches us to dream of far-off places or ambitious goals, and not to give up on those dreams, but to reach as high as we can and then leap. Fiction lets us touch our dreams through words on a page, and hope they can be even more tangible someday. I am sorry for anyone who can’t see the value of fiction; I’m sorry for anyone who has lost their imagination. Without fiction, I imagine I would be a different person, a person who accepted what life gave me and never reached for anything more. We are all capable of more than what is handed to us in life, however much or little that is. Fiction teaches us that, and so much more, if only we feed our imaginations with fiction rather than ignoring it in favor of only that which we consider to be real.