This week’s prompt in the #MFRWauthor 52-Week #Blog Challenge is Why I Write. That’s a good question and I don’t know that I have a good answer.
Mostly it’s because I’m a book junkie and have been since childhood. I fell in love with the written word and the power of story as a child and the magic never wanes. I love to read books and I love to tell stories. In my opinion, writers of popular fiction (romance, mystery, fantasy, etc.) are storytellers rather than writers. You can write a non-fiction book or article and provide useful, interesting, factual information, but when you write a piece of fiction, you are telling a story. And I love telling stories.
I’ve been slowly working my way through Lisa Cron’s book, Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence and taking the time to mark relevant passages and ponder what she said. The important takeaway is that scientists now know that the human brain is wired for story. It’s how we learn.
Besides finding that fact fascinating, I also find myself awed by the power of storytelling. In light of this revelation, I think it’s more important than ever for fiction writers to “get it right”. For instance, readers expect to learn a little history when they pick up a historical novel. I try to do my best to convey the period as accurately as possible, while not dwelling on the more unpleasant aspects of times past. Like the smelly horse dung in the street and the lack of sanitation, etc. You get the drift. But I also try to stay true to actual historical facts. It’s a balancing act, and the things that trip us up are the ones we didn’t think we had to look up.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject.
Linda
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Mozart Cake at Cafe Mozart, Old Town Prague