A New Perspective on Fiction
Hi friends,
I’m super excited to introduce you to my guest blogger Lauren Beccue. I met Lauren at a literary agency retreat in Charleston a couple years back now. Lauren co-wrote a wonderful book with my dear friend Katie Cushman. Since I’ll be road tripping in an RV with my hubby and our grandkids… I thought this was a great time for a guest blogger. And, I’m so blessed I asked. I think you’ll be blessed too.
~Dani
A New Perspective on Fiction
“Can anyone recommend a construction worker in Rhode Island?” The Facebook post popped up on my feed and immediately, I started to reply. Of course I know someone! I’ve spent the last two years in Rhode Island and have grown quite close to a terrific construction worker – a very handsome and kind construction worker for that matter.
Oh wait. He’s not real. He’s a fictional character I created. And I don’t actually live in Rhode Island. Sorry, I guess I can’t offer a referral after all.
Fiction can feel so authentic, can’t it? And what a gift it is to connect with a character, see the world through his or her eyes, traverse a new set of circumstances or time period, and learn valuable life lessons along the way.
While I’ve gotten lost in many fictional worlds as a reader, the connection I feel with the characters I’ve created in my first novel (co-authored with Kathryn Cushman) goes much deeper. I chose every bad habit, quirk, and personality trait, and none of it was accidental. Everything, including the difficult circumstances my characters endured, served a purpose. I was involved in every step of the process.
Not all of us are writers, but here’s something worth remembering: we’re all characters. God has created us and written us into the story of this world. He knows us intimately, weaves our stories through difficult circumstances, and even uses our unpleasant personality traits for His grater purposes. You could say He’s involved in the process. And His desire is to connect with us, because we are so real and so valuable to him.
Through a season that can otherwise be quite isolating – no vacations, parties, or gatherings, and if you have a sniffle, don’t even come out of your house – that simple perspective change was worth every minute of writing a novel. The Author of my life wants to connect with me. The Author of yours wants to connect with you. And that’s not fiction.
Have you ever caught yourself confusing your fictional worlds with the real one?
