While working on a blog post for my other blog, adkinsandwells.blogspot.com, I realized, anew, just how important words can be. They can bring life. They can tare down. They can change your mood. They can hurt your feelings. Words are powerful.
The subject of that blog post is homeschool. Why do I, obstacles I face and how I overcome. I knew what I wanted to say, but when it came time to write my reasons down, I struggled. It’s one thing to think something; clearly another to put it into words. Now that the article is written, my thoughts, beliefs and values concerning homeschooling seem more solid, valid, real. Before, they were just ideas. Now, they are facts. Which brings me to another writing subject.
What makes a good fiction writer? In my humble opinion, a good fiction writer is one who can make you believe what is not real. If you study history, you might know that the first woman to graduate medical school did so in the middle of the nineteenth century. If you aren’t a student of history, then a good writer could convince you that women have been practicing medicine for centuries before that. As an example, I read a book once whose characters had bionic implants. The author wrote like a scientist, and I’m still not convinced it all was fiction. :-)
The trick is to blur enough fact with fiction to create a whole new world. My novel, “A Moment in Time" is a work of fiction. The castle in the book, Glenrevan does not exist outside the pages of that story. I went online and looked up a few names of Scottish castles, played around with the spelling of things and settled on Glenrevan. Sounds authentic, doesn’t it? That’s what I think makes a good writer, someone who can use their words to create something new.
I keep a diary. When daily life gets a little too crazy, I go write in it. When my thoughts are all written down, I relax and can put those frustrations into perspective, because they are no longer in my head; they are real and on paper…figuratively, anyway.
Well, I’m slowing down, ideas aren’t coming to me as fast, and my mind is wandering. About time to stop all this writing and find something to eat. :-)
Happy Tuesday and be sure and come over to facebook.com/sjwellsauthor and like my page.
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