Thursday, October 11, 2012

Fact vs. Fiction



I have decided, without really telling anyone, that I am writing only fiction in October. But I am interrupting this fiction-writing to tell you about this fact: the fact of my fiction-writing.

Are you confused? Me too.

I have been, for a while now, writing a book. It's about my life. Rather, it's a book about the life I remember having, threaded through several layers of muslin, memory and interpretation. I think, on reflection, that it's fiction. Historical fiction, maybe. The main character is either a prophet or a tortured soul. It reads like the life of a saint before they reach salvation. You keep waiting, hoping, and rooting for the character, counting moments 'til the quiescent bliss that comes at the other side of  revelation. But this character instead has thousands of revelations as commonplace as small grey flies. She changes, grows, responds to life's circumstances, and all the while remains frustratingly the same.

How does one end such a thing?

I have waded in too deep, gotten right up to the present time. Here I am then, standing in water up to my neck, afraid if I step down off my tip-toes I might end up sucking down H2O. I am surrounded by my ego, by my current story-line, by a self I cannot fully see, a life I do not know yet is fiction.

Fact? It seemed time to take a break. So I decided to write fiction, to take scissors and chop up the world into stories that go where I want them to go. I decided to draw characters and see what I can learn from them. I am not a fiction writer. It's a bit as if I took a break to learn to play golf.

So, bear with me, gentle readers in October. And be vewy, vewy quiet. I am writing fiction. 

...consciously, for once.

*The above image, by the way, was done for me by the inimitable Merisha Lemmer and will ultimately become the banner for a complete blog re-design. Pretty awesome, huh? You should totally hire her.




Please don't steal my words or images. All rights reserved. 


26 comments:

  1. This is why I love fiction. There is a concise problem, several attempts to rectify the matter, a breakthrough, and then--hooray!--saccharin success.

    People are transformed, changed, enlightened. Solutions have a high cost but it is clearly marked on the price tag. Subtle subplots nearly tuck under the French knot which signifies the end--leaving no stray threads, no ragged edges.

    Sadly, this is not how it works in real life. I can count on one elbow how many true transformations I have seen in real life for the better. The cost is high, sometimes too high and yet other times, the cost is free (usually for the bad guy.) And there is no neatness. No three act structure.

    Fiction is the delusion that we can reorder life into logic.

    Have you by chance read Don Miller's Story Line blog or his book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years? It falls under Christian but has some very valid points for anyone.

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    1. Nicole, your comments are always good enough to be blog posts of their own. I delve into them like a good book. I have never read Don Miller. I will have to check that out. Just at a glance, it looks pretty interesting.

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  2. Loved the header, can't wait for the redesign! I'm very easily tortured by curiosity, you know.

    I think writing fiction is a great idea and am rooting for you to get through October. I'm curious to read through the posts for this month.

    Thanks for linking up! :D

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    1. Thanks for having the Linky Party, Larissa! Now, I have to find some time to read all the other links up there. I barely managed to write my own, but I was not going to be left out. Too much fun. :)

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  3. Hooray for fiction! There are people that live in our heads and sometimes they crowd out the real folks. That's when you have to give them their own lives. Besides, what is fiction except a truth that has yet to happen? Did that sound profound? I love the banner art, too.

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    1. It was very profound, Kelly. And slightly creepy because my mind went directly to Stephen King. Actually, reading your fiction has been a source of inspiration to me. I feel like it is a way that I can explore certain aspects of character that I see around me without attempting to pigeon-hole whole human beings. I can shine my light on whatever trait I want and use it as the basis for someone new. It's fun—this inventing of people. I think the last time I wrote fiction before this year I was sixteen.

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  4. Can't wait to read what you've written!
    Visiting from Papa is a Preacher
    Carolina
    http://sewcarolinaknits.blogspot.com/2012/10/malala-yousafzaia-hero-for-all-girls.html

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    1. Thanks, Carolina. Great to meet you and thanks for stopping by. I'll be sure to check out your blog. :)

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  5. "Rather, it's a book about the life I remember having, threaded through several layers of muslin, memory and interpretation."

    I think that's the case for all memoirs, but most who write them aren't honest enough to admit that (or smart enough to recognize it).

    And ooh, ooh, OOH! I love the banner and now I want to mosey over and meet this uber-talented Merisha person!

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    1. Thanks, Beth. I decided, at the very beginning, that I wasn't going to strive for accuracy so much as to create the poetry or mood of different phases of my life. I think that may be why coming to the present day is so much harder. The impetus to instead write some sort of case file about myself is much stronger.

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  6. The Word nerd has pretty much said what I was going to say. Having the courage to write and then be truthful with your self about what you are doing is incredible. And while I love your current banner, the new one is great.

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    1. Thanks. I love Merisha's art. I have known her since she was twelve and now she is all grown up and this incredible artist.

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  7. Would love to read more about your fiction.
    Visiting from Papa is Preacher ...

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    1. Thanks for dropping by! I'll make sure to check out your blog as well.

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  8. Love the new banner!

    And love, love, love that you are working out the pieces of your life in fiction stories. I've begun to tackle my own story in the very same way. Kindred writers!

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    1. Thanks, Maggie. Good luck with your project. I'd love to know how it goes.

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  9. I adore fiction and have many bookcases to prove it. I love to loose myself in places and situations sometimes. I have almost convinced myself that there is a teashop in SC that exsists and how I want it too. it is funny. Good luck with your project. Hope it is fun!

    The banner is great. What a great artist she is! Love the feel of it.

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  10. Re the remark that fiction is a truth that has yet to happen ... My stories are all set in a future time, so I like to say that I'm actually channeling them from the future! I even put a remark on the back of the t.p., following the disclaimer about how any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental: "However,the author does not guarantee that such characters or events will not come into existence at some time in the future." LOL!
    Re writing about your own life ... I think a lot of writers start out that way. It will give you experience with the craft, but it probably won't produce compelling fiction. Fiction requires some organization and our lives are random and messy. Now it's time to try the fictionalized route!

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  11. I've just stumbled upon your blog from "Papa is a Preacher" and am looking forward to 'Fiction Month'!

    I do try to write fiction tales quite frequently...I have two unfinished novels to prove I don't have the motivation to complete the longer stories though. Perhaps I should stick to short stories :)

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  12. Maybe you just need an editor for your memoir? I will wait patiently for you to polish and publish. I met you at EBWW and keep stopping in to read what you write. You are thoughtful and talented.
    The new banner rocks...it's like you --cute then you notice the many layers.

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  13. My fiction always ends up having more truth in it than my autobiographical stuff... and vice versa.

    I think part of the reason might be that it's tough to portray yourself as the bad guy or hugely flawed. I tend to want to make myself - as you say here - a prophet or genius or tortured soul, instead of just... screwed up.

    I guess there's not a huge amount of difference between my fiction and nonfiction. In my fiction, I know French, though.

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  14. That header looks amazing!! Fiction is fun!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

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  15. The lines between fact and fiction are always blurred don't you think? They both colour each other to varying degrees (wow that was hard to put without a reference to shades of grey lol)

    I am looking forward to fiction month and will endeavour to comment more often than I have since I originally found your blog ;-)

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    1. PS loving the image and can't wait to see the redesign!

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  16. Fiction, schmiction. It's all fiction, isn't it? And nonfiction. Tara, you write about truths, regardless of who the characters are, right? Endless pigeonholing. Pigeon poo and feathers everywhere. You can write anything beautifully, even an email. So I'll read whatever you splash up here and whatever you call it.
    I'll go back to melting crayons now.

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  17. Fiction is fabulous. Your writing is fabulous. The two together could be nothing less.

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Faith in Ambiguity by Tara Adams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License