As a writer anything can happen in any way – the possibilities are endless. Better still, you’re the one who gets to make it happen – when you write, you make it possible. Even when writing impossible realities, these can easily be overcome if it is written well – the hero can save the day and get the girl, good will triumph over evil (unless of course dystopic fiction is your thing!), and this is what makes writing so delicious.
For a lot of writers, myself included, writing is their passion because of this element of control, or should I say creation. But, it’s not merely having the ability to create and enjoy a whole new world that drives a writer on; it’s much more than that.
It’s having people being able to not only share in what you create, but to also understand what you create. It’s having people identify with your characters’ issues, as if they were real – having your fictional “reality” accepted as truth. All in all, it’s the acceptance and belief the reader bestows in the writer that makes fiction writing so exhilarating.
When I sit down to write, as long as I do it well, I can make anything happen, make anything believable. My character could be a NASA astronaut, a homeless teenager or a runway model, yet it doesn’t matter who or what I am to make this happen. I can silence a character with just one word, send them off on an adventure of a lifetime with just one sentence, or embroil them in chaos in an entire book! I could set the scene deep in the ocean, on another planet, or in a back garden – I can do anything, I can control what I want to be known, what I want to be shared; as the writer, I am the one who makes this happen.
However, writing is not merely about control. It’s about capturing those nuances of humanity that we all share – our commonalities – it’s about identification and gaining a place in the world, fictional or otherwise. You can embroil characters in as much drama as you want, think of the zaniest scenarios, but unless you know humanity, writing really isn’t worth it. That’s because writing what you know doesn’t actually mean writing about what you do – it means capturing that link we all share and being aware of the essence of human nature. More importantly, it means being human yourself, even if you are writing about far-off aliens. Capturing humanity is incredibly important to remember when it comes to writing – your writing is being shared with humanity, after all. To be able to connect with your audience, you need to resonate with your audience – be on their wavelength – and knowing that the purpose of your writing has been understood, as well as enjoyed, is what makes it all worth it.
Writing is my passion because of the control, creation and connection it brings me, but it’s also the challenge of it that makes it a passion. Even the most dedicated and passionate of writers at some point will inevitably struggle with some demons towards their writing. But to be passionate about something is to take the rough with the smooth; passion isn’t always positive, it also causes intense suffering. The thing to remember is that just like you live a mixed life, your book must also embrace its highs and suffer it lows. It is this act that makes it worthwhile with the end result – a writer’s pain becomes the reader’s pleasure and the writer’s job is done … until the next book, that is!
This post was by Elle at Pipe Dreams and Professions. She rocks and is going to make it big as an author one day.
“She rocks and is going to make it big as an author one day.”
Awwww, thanks Han! :0)
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