Jason Kirk
asked
Jason Kirk:
[Answering questions that I wasn't able to get to during our book launch party.] From Four-Year-Old Preacher's Kid: "Did you always know you would make this a work of fiction? Did you play around with it as memoir or nonfiction?"
Jason Kirk
Its first iteration was a 20-page short story, the kind of format I wrote all the time during college (in creative writing classes, for fun, etc.) and even all the way back to middle school. Despite having worked as a journalist (or whatever) since 2010, fiction is my OG writing mode.
Once I realized Isaac's journey had (1.) too much context and nuance and background for me to cram into 20 pages and (2.) too much personal evolution to undergo in just 20 pages, its scope quickly expanded to novel-sized.
I never considered non-fiction for this project. Didn't really think about that route at all until after it'd been published and someone asked. Fiction meant the chance to reroute my own memories, thoughts, and experiences through a variety of characters, to merge some of me with other people's experiences into the character of Isaac, and to select details and events for thematic reasons.
(But really, the simplest answer for why it isn't a memoir is: That sounds super boring to me. I've read great memoirs, obviously, but one about me? Zzz. Though I did get in trouble as a kid WAY more frequently than Isaac's crew does, other than for a few stints during his senior year.)
Once I realized Isaac's journey had (1.) too much context and nuance and background for me to cram into 20 pages and (2.) too much personal evolution to undergo in just 20 pages, its scope quickly expanded to novel-sized.
I never considered non-fiction for this project. Didn't really think about that route at all until after it'd been published and someone asked. Fiction meant the chance to reroute my own memories, thoughts, and experiences through a variety of characters, to merge some of me with other people's experiences into the character of Isaac, and to select details and events for thematic reasons.
(But really, the simplest answer for why it isn't a memoir is: That sounds super boring to me. I've read great memoirs, obviously, but one about me? Zzz. Though I did get in trouble as a kid WAY more frequently than Isaac's crew does, other than for a few stints during his senior year.)
More Answered Questions
Jason Kirk
asked
Jason Kirk:
[Answering questions that I wasn't able to get to during our book launch party.] From Matt: "I'm hoping that some of the book extras are around the timeline structure, both Isaac's life and growth and real-life happenings. Were there any real events you wanted to include but just couldn't work them in?"
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