Natalie Walker

Learning to Create Fiction

            When writing fiction the first thought is that making up a story is easy, however, after a first attempt at making a believable and entertaining story.  This common misconception plagues many beginning writers. Writing is a long process; this creative process forces the writer to search themselves; in order to find a creative inspiration that will help to form the basis for a fiction story. As I have progressed through the semester I have learned that it is not always easy to find some form of inspiration and turn it into a work of fiction. When trying to write a fiction story I thought about my own life and what could I draw from that in order to make an interesting story. Thinking about the course readings I remembered that real life could be a continual source of new ideas in which to write about. “When you draw on your own experiences honestly, you can be sure that you are being original” (Minot, p.155). This thought stuck with me while I thought about different ideas to write about.

            Listening to the other writers in the workshop, I found that many of the writers were faced with the same problems that I encountered. They too, were finding it hard to create an original story that did not use any conventional or stock characters.  The temptation for many writers is to fall back on the use of these types of plots and characters and to create something truly original is a very hard thing to do.

            Attending the workshop sessions and responding to the other student’s work not only helped me but I also got to be a part of an extended creative process. This gave me different ideas on how I could write and how I could improve my writing. This type of environment worked well with helping to mold beginning creative writers. Rachel Davis stated in her essay from 2008, “Not only is the idea of working together to produce the best possible product great practice for everyone in positively participating in group dynamics, and mutual respect, but the process of group work also greatly increases confidence in one’s work.”  I have always known that creative writing is something that is deeply personal for me and being in this type of supportive environment really helped me gain the confidence that I needed to share my work with others.

            I also became aware of how important it is to make sure the viewpoint that is attached to the main character is consistent throughout the story. In my workshop experience I saw in my own writing how my subconscious choice to put my story in first person helped me tell the story effectively on one hand but on the other I had to make sure that I kept the same tense throughout. I would not now be so aware as I write to make sure about the consistency of the tone had it not been for the workshop. In the reading material Minot states, “A closely related advantage of the first person is that you can adopt the tone of a story being narrated out loud” (p.195). 

            During this semester I have gained a lot of knowledge and respect for fiction writing and the different ways to write a successful story. As I listened to the ideas for improving my own story and helping my classmates improve their stories, I found that I had learned what types of techniques to use and look out for when reading others’ work and writing my own. I found this to be especially true when the class talked about comedy and how group brainstorming is most beneficial to that style of writing. Even though a workshop atmosphere may traditionally be used for comedy I found that a workshop atmosphere is best for all types of writing, for the writing process in general.