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Originally Posted by dalante  Oh dear... I identify with most of these, but I am still uncertain about clear sense of purpose and mastery of the tools for fiction writing.
What are the tools of fiction? (language? can you completely master a language?)
What about purpose? I write fiction to create emotions, to express feelings and help people express theirs... but when you start writing fiction, do you have to know where you're going, what your characters will be doing?
If there is one perso who makes a living off fiction writing, please step in! What do you tell yourself before creating a story ? I want to be consistent in my creativity so if anyone has answers, it would be an enlightment to me! |
I don't make a living of fiction, but I do write it a lot and my 2 cents might help:
Your 'purpose' is the end result you're going for in the reader - the emotions you want them to feel, the thoughts you want them to have, do you want them to reconsider their own lives, to cry, to laugh, or just to smile? Alternatively, you can just set out to tell a good story and let the deeper meanings of your narrative come in later, which is what I do.
As for the 'tools' - language, vocabulary, character, plot, development, story arcs... it goes on and on. And no, I don't honestly think any one human can master them, but then I disagree with Steve that 'mastery' is what you're going for - it's more like a 'competency'. You need to get comfortable with this stuff.
I highly recommend Stephen King's book 'On Writing', and Terry Brooks's 'Sometimes the Magic Works'. Both are fantastic books on writing from two very different authors.
And no, you don't have to know what your characters are doing at the end, but you don't have to avoid outlining either - different things work for different people. Try both and see what works for you (I'm an outlining kind of guy and so is Terry Brooks, but King isn't).