Fiction

[Lorizael]

I write science fiction. Soft science fiction, mostly. Sometimes I delve into fantasy. These are what I know and what I've read.

I am taking a Creative Writing class, because I have no discipline when it comes to my writing and because my skills could certainly use some sharpening.

I have a short story (~3000 words) due on Wednesday, and I have nothing written. Because I always write sf and fantasy, and because I'm trying to learn something in this class, I am forcing myself to write regular old non-genre fiction.

But it has occurred to me before, and it is urgently obvious now, that I have absolutely no idea what normal fiction is about. I don't know what's supposed to happen in a "normal" story. Regular old life has always seemed rather boring to me, and my writing is probably somewhat escapist in nature because of this.

What do people write about when the subject matter is work or houses or pets or driving?

I know people will probably say that the characters should be the central focus of a story, and that all that science fiction and fantasy stuff are just trappings, but I can never come up with a "normal" plot that would seem interesting to me or my characters.

This is probably mostly to do with me, as most things that happen in my life fall into two categories.

(1) Things I don't care about at all (work, houses, pets, driving) that I just let happen to me rather than having any emotions over.

(2) Things that stress me out to the point of depression and insanity (romance, the future of my life, why I can't remember things that happened more than a few hours ago), which would probably hit a little too close to home for me to feel real comfortable writing about.

To conclude. Uh. Monkeys.

Oh yes. What should this hopeless amateur writer write about?

[SlowwHand]

Turn in this.

[Lorizael]

My professor is harsh. Were I to do that, when my story came up during the class critique, he would look at it, say, "Rejected", toss it aside and move on to the next one. Then I would vomit and die.

(Er. Um. I'm aware that you were being sarcastic, but this is the only response I could think of.)

[Solver]

Ditch the classes and write yourself. Seriously, I don't think such classes can do you any good. If you have the writing talent, you'll come up with good stories anyway, and will likely just be slowed down by the classes.

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Solver
Ditch the classes and write yourself. Seriously, I don't think such classes can do you any good. If you have the writing talent, you'll come up with good stories anyway, and will likely just be slowed down by the classes.

See, I tried that for several years. The result? Three half finished novels, a few completed short stories, and countless short stories on my many, many back burners.

[Solver]

And what exactly is the problem with that? Half finished novels would indicate that you can write but just (I assume and may be off) lack the dedication to finish them off. The completed short stories indicate even further that you can write. So why do you feel you need the courses?

I've written a few short stories myself. It isn't something I do often, but I really enjoy writing when I do, and largely because I do it however the damn I see fit.

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by Lorizael
My professor is harsh. Were I to do that, when my story came up during the class critique, he would look at it, say, "Rejected", toss it aside and move on to the next one. Then I would vomit and die.

(Er. Um. I'm aware that you were being sarcastic, but this is the only response I could think of.)

This is why you're having problems.

Write about a little boy named Sava. You could base it on facts, and the instructor will assume it's fiction.

[flash9286]

you could always go with main themes: love, loss, war, suffering, etc. You know all that bs.

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Solver
And what exactly is the problem with that? Half finished novels would indicate that you can write but just (I assume and may be off) lack the dedication to finish them off. The completed short stories indicate even further that you can write. So why do you feel you need the courses?

I've written a few short stories myself. It isn't something I do often, but I really enjoy writing when I do, and largely because I do it however the damn I see fit.

You are not off on the dedication remark; that's pretty much exactly why I've been unable to finish my stories. But it's also why I'm taking a creative writing class.

I had reservations going in, because I've heard a lot of bad things about creative writing classes. They ruin your style, stifle your imagination, restrict your growth, etc.

But I've also heard that they depend very much on the professor, and that a good professor can make creative writing classes quite productive and insightful.

More to the point, though, my inability to turn out a finished product on a regular basis is why I feel I need the class. In the real world (and in the real world, I actually want to be a writer), writers have deadlines, and if they don't meet those deadlines, bad things happen.

I figure that rather than writing leisurely for myself, if I have to write a specific amount of stuff by a specific date for my class, it will force me to acquire the dedictaion I need to actually finished those damn novels.

[Solver]

Buy "On Writing" by Stephen King, now that will contain some useful info.

As a freethinker of sorts, I'm very much inclined to agree that these classes will restrict your imagination in all probability. Worst case scenario, you lose your style and get a slightly different version of your professor's style.

I think that, if you're in a class as a means of seeking dedication, you're there for the wrong reason. It likely won't improve your quality of writing, even if it does improve the quantity/dedication. Put a gun to my head and tell me to write a full story in a day, I will do it - but the quality will suck.

Real-life writers mostly have deadlines, though, yeah. And that can suck. But I personally find (in all things), that dedication comes from inspiration. If I have the inspiration to do something I like, I'll finish it - no inspiration, no finishing. And being forced by a class to write amount X by time Y will give you the dedication, but rather a rather forced one, akin to that proverbial gun.

[Zedd]

I like to tinker with story time too, and one of the most helpfull things any instructor told me was never write in sequence. Usually you come up with a great "middle" then put a beggining to it and never feel like finnishing the story.

Make yourself write the ending chapters first based on your ideas and then create the scenes leading up to that ending.

Also write in make shift chapters but don't organize or number them until you are finnished. Then you put the whole thing together like a story board and fill in any blanks.

Read your own material. After some time the story may loose its original "flare" and some of your ideas may get left by the way-side. If you set aside time to work on writing and can't think of anything to write, read. Look for inspiration in your own story, or even in some of the other half finnished story's you have.

Possibly this is elementary wisdom but it helps me.

[Lorizael]

We obviously have different opinions on the matter, but I'll tell you this.

The format for this class is very simple. The first two assignments both had to be of a specific length and construction, and were rather limited in their purview.

The rest of class, however, consists of us turning in thirty pages worth of writing (which should be broken up into three more or less even stories) on any subject, and in any format, except what he calls "D&D fantasy". These stories are rejected if they are (a) not fiction, (b) massively ungrammatical, or (c) too late.

Then the class discusses and critiques the stories without the author's name being revealed, and he gives a grade based on whether or not he feels the student's writing has improved.

When we're not critiquing another student's writing, he is lecturing about the standard rules of fiction writing, so that the less experienced writers can learn about point of view, plot pacing, so on and so forth.

I don't see a way in which this setup could be harmful, and I think it could potentially be helpful.

[Zkribbler]

Orson Scott Card definds a story as a character trying to solve a problem.

Start with a [hopefully] interesting character, give him/her a problem....then make it worse. What did he do it make it better?? --Oops, that made things even worse! Ooooh, what's he going to do next.

[aneeshm]

Writing is cathartic and healing . Write about the things you described in 2) . It's helped me a hell of a lot , writing that way . Don't think about is , just write . Let it flow . Let it out .

[Sandman]

Try writing crime fiction.