Just a thought

When an actress says the name Johnny in a movie, why does it invariably turn out creepy?

Opinions or Stories

I love to write. I've always known I was meant to write, though only recently have I been producing anything of good quality. I've written in the past too, but mainly exposition, not anything narrative, or if I did write any narrative, I never completed it. OK, whatever you might say, and I hear you, but I want to make a point that writing exposition or narrative is worlds apart.

I've written more opinion this year than narrative by a lot. So far this year I've completed 5 short stories and started maybe 10 more. Still, I've written about 60 blog entries (not all have posted yet) in the same time with much less work and in just a mere fraction of the time. What I have discovered is that writing opinion is easy. You don't have to have much of a plan of what you're going to write or where you're going, and on top of it, when you feel like stopping, you're done.

Narrative is a different beast. You have to begin with the end in mind. Know where you're going. Keep an eye on the story and make sure that you are being consistent. There is much more work that goes into a writing a story. You have re-writes and editing to take care of. And even after your first and second drafts you realize that you missed an important part of the story, so you fit it in, and then you have to do one more proof read and edit again.

I'm not trying to make expository authors seem like they are taking the easy way out, but I have a sneaking suspicion that while many narrative writers could easily pick up exposition, not many exposition writers could as easily slip into narrative writing. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think so.

Writer's Block

I get writer's block at the strangest time. I just finished a long blog entry and a short story yesterday and with the feeling of accomplishment of both of those tasks, I do not feel like writing much of anything. This isn't because I don't want to write, but like my creativity is sapped from my last project, or projects in this case. It's one of my greatest frustrations as a writer.

Oh well, maybe it won't last too long. I'd sure like to write a few more stories before the end of this year. Strangely enough, I think I got a title for one of my stories while trying to research the title of another of my stories.