"Are you going to write a book one day?" my mother asked me. I had my nose stuffed in another one of Stephenie Meyer's masterpieces. I looked up at her thoughtfully, and explained that I wasn't sure if I'd ever write one. But her question got me thinking.
As much as I love them, I could never see myself writing a whole novel. But would I even write a novel? Maybe it would be a memoir. One of my favorite paperbacks of all time is an autobiography: Riding In Cars With Boys. But I never became impregnated in the 1950s and then raised a child on my own, much like Beverly Donofrio, the author, and main character of the book. Yet I'm sure my crazy days as a rebel teenager would make for a good page turner. But I'm not so sure I'd want all those experiences in print. It's a thought though. Maybe a science fiction? I did win an award in the fourth grade for my story on "The Weird Alien." Not exactly the next Star Wars, but the Child's Play Touring Theater did make it into a play and perform it at my school.
Perhaps I will just stay on the road to journalism. Short stories, blogs, and articles seem to be more my forte. But you never know where the road may lead. I read that Stephenie Meyer had the idea of Twilight come to her in a dream. The rest has been history. Perhaps I'll start writing down all my dreams.
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I've wanted to write a novel since I was a kid. But every time I start one I don't know what to do with it. That memoir thing isn't a bad idea though, you might want to try it out. I've been writing a novel sort of like a memoir for a little over a year...it's basically real events that have happened to me, with some varying degrees of exaggeration. I think real life is a good starting point for fiction, and fun!
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't already, take a class with Dubus, the nonfiction or fiction writing one. It's a good way to get used to the rhythm of writing all the time. I took both last semester, and for the fiction class we were supposed to write five times a week, which I didn't do because I'm pathetic, but by the end of it I had banged out some fiftey plus pages of some nonsense story. If you stick to a regiment and actually care or are into what you're writing about you could easily have something big in a year or so.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I write down my dreams all the time, when I can remember them, and even when I can't and I just have two or three lines of memory from them. It's a good way to stay writing, and it helps you look at yourself as a character. In other words, things you dream of, and what they represent, it sort of creates a template for a character...if you know what I mean...My Education, by William Burroughs is a book of dreams. It's pretty wild.
Also also, the story I wrote for the fiction class was indeed a fiction piece, but almost everything my character experienced or even thought was taken from my own life, save for age and job, things of that nature.
I guess I'm saying don't feel like you can't do it and just quit, you never know what you could come up with. For instance, in a way I'm writing this whole post just for the sake of writing.