What do you want to write?

So I wanted to write a story with a theme of "found riches" and I had it in my mind that I MUST break free from the realistic fiction I love and try my hand at quirky animal characters.  For three laborious days I messed around with Duck, Chicken, Cow and Goat.  They find a box of money in a pasture, they plan, they dream, they say and do quirky things, etc.   I had a middle with some tension and an only mildly satisfying ending.  At the end of the third frustrating day, I said to myself, "This is horrible stuff.  No kid would ever want to read this.  What is the story I really want to tell?" 

I thought for a while, and it hit me.  "I want to write a story about found riches that involves a real kid.  Not a duck.  I kinda hate writing about ducks.  Other people are really good at writing about ducks. Let them do it."

The floodgates opened, and the story poured out.  A real kid in a big city.  I knew exactly what he looked like, what he would have in his lunchbox, how his black, curly hair hit his collar and curled. I could hear his voice and I think I understood the size of the problem I was asking him to solve.


Tell the story you want to tell.  Don't make the mistake I did and think you "should" be writing something other than what you really want to write.   Experiment--yes.  But know when to fold 'em.  Or in my case, close the barn door.