IT TAKES A LIAR
To be a good fiction writer, you’ve gotta be a good liar. That’s a must. After all nearly everything we write is untrue, except for a few facts now and then that we stick in for some background color. For the most part, though, we write about people and places that don’t exist and events that are entirely made up. Unlike the well known liars in other fields, however, we don’t do it to deceive or cheat–but rather to entertain. And whether you prefer a novel or a movie or a TV show or a play–if it’s fiction you’re being entertained by lies. That’s what the art of making up stories is all about. Tell some real whoppers for the purpose of entertainment.
Making up stories seemed to come naturally to me, from early childhood on. I guess, growing up an only child, I spent more time either by myself or with adults that with other kids–so I never saw much point in playing organized games–following somebody else’s rules. I wasn’t much good at ball-related games anyway, as I was always very nearsighted and wore rather thick glasses, and so couldn’t see the ball properly. My natural instinct kicked in–when I saw a ball coming at me, I just wanted to run and get out of the way! So–instead–I much preferred being by myself and making up adventure stories–stories that took me to faraway places, and as a kid I was especially into science fiction. Being by myself developed the art of creativity. So what if I couldn’t play football? And so what if I was lousy in math? I could do something else that most other kids couldn’t. I began to write my stories down on paper and in high school I got extra credit in English class for them. Later I took a course in writing children’s books and for awhile I dabbled in writing sci fi for kids. That was all pre-Internet. No Amazon.com, no Kindle, no Nook or Kobo. Getting something published meant sending manuscripts in to publishers–and the odds of an unknown author getting anything accepted by that means are comparable to winning the lottery. Many millions to one odds against it. That realization dampened my interest in a writing career, and so I went on to other pursuits. I also got tired of sci fi–and did not like the direction that genre has taken, as it has morphed more into horror and graphic violence. My reading habits drifted away from sci fi, and I found myself reading just about everything else. Adventure stories, westerns, historical fiction, spy thrillers–and lots of whodunits, too. My mother encouraged me to do more writing–but what to write? She had in mind that I should stick to children’s books–maybe write something about cutesy anthropomorphic animals–but no inspiration for that came my way. I wouldn’t rule out writing a children’s book at some point–but being a single adult with little or no contact with kids, the inspiration isn’t there at the moment. I didn’t have any ideas. The author inside me simply fell into a long and deep sleep.
Stay tuned...
R. L. Anderson, author, Will Nickerson Mysteries.
Available in paperback and Kindle editions from Amazon.com, and also on Nook and Kobo.
Making up stories seemed to come naturally to me, from early childhood on. I guess, growing up an only child, I spent more time either by myself or with adults that with other kids–so I never saw much point in playing organized games–following somebody else’s rules. I wasn’t much good at ball-related games anyway, as I was always very nearsighted and wore rather thick glasses, and so couldn’t see the ball properly. My natural instinct kicked in–when I saw a ball coming at me, I just wanted to run and get out of the way! So–instead–I much preferred being by myself and making up adventure stories–stories that took me to faraway places, and as a kid I was especially into science fiction. Being by myself developed the art of creativity. So what if I couldn’t play football? And so what if I was lousy in math? I could do something else that most other kids couldn’t. I began to write my stories down on paper and in high school I got extra credit in English class for them. Later I took a course in writing children’s books and for awhile I dabbled in writing sci fi for kids. That was all pre-Internet. No Amazon.com, no Kindle, no Nook or Kobo. Getting something published meant sending manuscripts in to publishers–and the odds of an unknown author getting anything accepted by that means are comparable to winning the lottery. Many millions to one odds against it. That realization dampened my interest in a writing career, and so I went on to other pursuits. I also got tired of sci fi–and did not like the direction that genre has taken, as it has morphed more into horror and graphic violence. My reading habits drifted away from sci fi, and I found myself reading just about everything else. Adventure stories, westerns, historical fiction, spy thrillers–and lots of whodunits, too. My mother encouraged me to do more writing–but what to write? She had in mind that I should stick to children’s books–maybe write something about cutesy anthropomorphic animals–but no inspiration for that came my way. I wouldn’t rule out writing a children’s book at some point–but being a single adult with little or no contact with kids, the inspiration isn’t there at the moment. I didn’t have any ideas. The author inside me simply fell into a long and deep sleep.
Stay tuned...
R. L. Anderson, author, Will Nickerson Mysteries.
Available in paperback and Kindle editions from Amazon.com, and also on Nook and Kobo.
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