Go Wild
Along the same lines that we spoke of yesterday, writing allows us to use our imagination to the greatest extent. Some people talk a good line of bull every day. They get away with it simply because they throw enough truth or believability into the crap that people tolerate it without delving too deep below the surface. We can do the same in our writing.
We can write anything we want. We just have to do it convincingly. We can accomplish this by backing up what we say with facts. We can do this by using some truths stretched to fit our situation. The truths don't even need to pertain to our topic, but they lend credibility to our topic by being included.
For example, we can write about how the Bermuda Triangle is inhabited by some giant monster that swallows ships whole. We add credibility to this story because we know that the Bermuda Triangle is singled out for a number of disappearances. No one ever said there was a monster there, but that's okay. I don't think anyone ever said there definitely wasn't a monster there. The fact that there have been disappearances helps our story.
Another example might go like this...Aliens have been spotted in the vicinity of Area 51. We have some eye witness reports siting strange looking creatures and a shiny craft of sorts. The government is claiming these are parts of a weather experiment again. We could build a whole story on these lines simply because of the reputation of Area 51 and the theories of government coverup. Even the reports of alien autopsy that have been aired on television allow such stories to be believable.
We can, simply put, embellish our tales to our heart's content. If we throw in a "truth" every so often, our embellishments can be made believable. This doesn't mean that we can't write something totally off the wall. It does mean that our readers will be more receptive to our stories if they are something they can relate to or something they are familiar with.
Whether we like it or not, we write for an audience. In order to be successful, that audience has to find some redeeming value in our words. If that value is not found, we have wasted our time. There are, of course, times when total fantasy can be quite enjoyable. However, I still think that the more we can tie that fantasy to something ground in reality, the better off we'll be.
The more we can make sense of our stories, the more enjoyment we will give our readers. The "sense" that we make does not even need to hold true. It just needs to fit this particular purpose with some believability. Explore your imagination and see what you find deep within. Dig it out, dust it off, and take it for a ride. What can we do with our new idea to make it find a home in the heart of our readers?
One thing I just came up with was a description of utopia. I hardly think that most of us believe that utopia exists. The idea of utopia, though, is thoroughly attractive and leads us to dream about perfection. Hopes and dreams are very real in the world of words. If we can relate our story to these hopes and dreams, we can quite possibly have a best seller.
Think about it. If what we write can make someone feel better about themselves or the world they live in even for just a moment, we've accomplished something major. If what we write can make people think about the way things are or the way things should be, we've done a good thing. If what we write influences our reader in any way, we've succeeded.
We can write anything we want. We just have to do it convincingly. We can accomplish this by backing up what we say with facts. We can do this by using some truths stretched to fit our situation. The truths don't even need to pertain to our topic, but they lend credibility to our topic by being included.
For example, we can write about how the Bermuda Triangle is inhabited by some giant monster that swallows ships whole. We add credibility to this story because we know that the Bermuda Triangle is singled out for a number of disappearances. No one ever said there was a monster there, but that's okay. I don't think anyone ever said there definitely wasn't a monster there. The fact that there have been disappearances helps our story.
Another example might go like this...Aliens have been spotted in the vicinity of Area 51. We have some eye witness reports siting strange looking creatures and a shiny craft of sorts. The government is claiming these are parts of a weather experiment again. We could build a whole story on these lines simply because of the reputation of Area 51 and the theories of government coverup. Even the reports of alien autopsy that have been aired on television allow such stories to be believable.
We can, simply put, embellish our tales to our heart's content. If we throw in a "truth" every so often, our embellishments can be made believable. This doesn't mean that we can't write something totally off the wall. It does mean that our readers will be more receptive to our stories if they are something they can relate to or something they are familiar with.
Whether we like it or not, we write for an audience. In order to be successful, that audience has to find some redeeming value in our words. If that value is not found, we have wasted our time. There are, of course, times when total fantasy can be quite enjoyable. However, I still think that the more we can tie that fantasy to something ground in reality, the better off we'll be.
The more we can make sense of our stories, the more enjoyment we will give our readers. The "sense" that we make does not even need to hold true. It just needs to fit this particular purpose with some believability. Explore your imagination and see what you find deep within. Dig it out, dust it off, and take it for a ride. What can we do with our new idea to make it find a home in the heart of our readers?
One thing I just came up with was a description of utopia. I hardly think that most of us believe that utopia exists. The idea of utopia, though, is thoroughly attractive and leads us to dream about perfection. Hopes and dreams are very real in the world of words. If we can relate our story to these hopes and dreams, we can quite possibly have a best seller.
Think about it. If what we write can make someone feel better about themselves or the world they live in even for just a moment, we've accomplished something major. If what we write can make people think about the way things are or the way things should be, we've done a good thing. If what we write influences our reader in any way, we've succeeded.
posted by Vickie at 8:31 PM
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