F Is For… Fiction!
I adore fiction. I always have. I wrote my first story at the age of nine, and I devoured books upon books from the library, booksellers like B. Dalton and Waldenbooks, and when I discovered my first Barnes and Noble I thought they would have to drag me out of there kicking and screaming because I never wanted to leave. ACRES of books. I discovered the (sadly defunct) Brandeis Used Book Sale which was an annual event, SEVEN CIRCUS TENTS full of used books – paperbacks, hardbacks, rare books, sets, books, magazines, books, tapes, DVDs, and did I mention books?
I love the smell of books. I love the feel of them. I love the novel as an art form. But above all, I love fiction because fiction allows you to tell Truth.
Which brings me to Professor Josip Novakovich. If you are a writer, or want to be, I urge you to wander through his book Fiction Writer’s Workshop and add it to your personal library. His pithy explanations of how to get to story will have you reaching for your pen.
But my favorite quote from the whole book, which is full of quote-worthy material, is this:
“You might want to become a non-fiction writer, and yet at every turn you distort things, exaggerate and embellish them, and even introduce characters, places and events that had nothing to do with the original material. In that case, you are a born fiction writer, which is much nicer than saying you are a born liar.”
Hoo-rah, baby. Yeah.
It's flash fiction for me as my growing little band of followers during A-Z have discovered. I participate in several prompt sites each week and invariably I'm an island of prose in an ocean of poetry. I'm too free spirited to be held in check by the rules and restraints that poetry demands. That's it, rant over!!!
Awesome, Keith! I like flash fiction, too. In addition, one hundred word vignettes called drabbles are fun. I actually blogged about them for the letter D. I'm number 1357 on the A to Z list, by the way. Thank you for sharing this, Catherine. I so enjoyed that workshop with you a few years back. Happy writing!
Hi, Keith! I like flash fiction too; I'm not great at it (I keep trying to turn it into longer material) but it's a lot of fun.
We're thinking of resurrecting some kind of Flash Fiction Friday here after April's over, if you're interested. If you have resources, shout 'em out (comments or by email to a.catherine.noon AT gmail). Thanks for visiting!
Hi, Darla! I enjoyed doing it with you, too. We'll have to do something equally inspiring this year.
After the Challenge. ~rueful grin~
I love nothing better than a huge, long, sprawling epic novel I can climb into and just live in for a few weeks. It actually saddens me that there aren't so many doorstopper-sized novels these days.
Hi, Carrie-Anne! Yeah, me too. Not sure if you read fantasy, but remember the Sword of Shannara? Man that was huge. Almost too big to read in the bathtub. And the Wheel of Time cycle. LOFF.
🙂
I LOVE this post, Noony! It's fiction and poems for me 🙂 They used to kick me out of bookstores, too. Too bad no one can kick me out of an online bookstore. Really. I could use some pushing help with my addiction. 🙂
Ha! Yes, I know what you mean. Online convenience isn't always a good thing. Maybe your cat will help and accidentally unplug the cables. 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to comment!