What Great Fiction Writing Does

Nothing beats the sensation of being caught up in a lovely novel and letting the fictional world and characters take us away.

In this fictional world, we are voyeurs… Merely spactators of the unfolding world around us and immune to the burdens of real life.

At it’s best, great fiction is escapism and nothing compares to being lost among the words and the pages and leaving our daily cares behind.

Great writing is an efficient balm against our mundane concerns and transports us into another reality. For true book lovers, nothing else can compare to what great fiction writing provides.

(c) Niconica 2012

Why Jane Austen Rocks

It is a pity that Jane Austen was not aware of the mesmerizing effect her novels would have on generations of women in the future.  She writes about love, courtship, and social graces where the men exist in the novels as objects of romantic affection as well as the pursuers in matters of the heart – the perfect “modern” fairy tale.

I use “modern” here as a phrase relative to the usual setting of fairy tales which would probably be more at home in the medieval  age of chivalry.  Of course, compared to our early 21st century era – Jane Austen’s period would not be considered modern anymore.

Even if we do not admit it out loud, in our heart of hearts we would like to imagine men to be as they are in Jane Austen’s books – which portrays their roles and existence from the feminine perspective.

Why our minds more easily get caught up in the ideas of love and romance is a source of both delight and disappointment to us.  (But, I digress.)

Back to the topic, Jane Austen is simply a genius–she is the writer’s writer of her genre–her observations of the nuances and subtleties of human behavior pours into the story, characters, and pages smoothly… and we laugh, cry, and get annoyed the lead characters as they experience the story unfolding around them – and almost wish that we were part of that world.

She writes about love and courtship so gracefully that it seems as though she has been out there and experienced it all.  However, the question would have to be raised that had she been out there experiencing it all, she might not have found the time to put pen to paper and entrance us with her novels.

Her keen insights into love, courtship, romance, and marriage are exquisite… and it is evident in her novels. Her novels serve as a commentary on human nature –their frailties and foibles–which, despite ongoing advancements in science and technology, remain pleasantly and disappointingly similar.

Her characters are poignant, memorable, infuriating, and delightful… one cannot help but wish that she had lived to write more of her masterpieces.

In our hearts and in our minds, we proclaim, “Long Live  Jane Austen!”  Thank you for teaching us about the joys and pitfalls of love and romance, among many other things.

(c) Niconica 2011*

*does not apply to image/s

Why Write?

I’ve asked myself  often, why write?  Why this overwhelming need to put pen to paper or tap away at the keyboard of the computer and come up with words strung together in what we might hope to be a coherent and melodious rhythm?  Why the constant struggle with the ebb and flow of words and the dreaded writer‘s block?  And I suppose that the answer is, instead of all the numerous justifications and reasons which can be used: because I cannot not write.

I have read somewhere that one is either a writer or isn’t – and writers are a different breed altogether – the compulsion and the need to churn words out in what we hope to be intelligible format is part and parcel of who we are… whether it is published or not is irrelevant.  While the notion of being published is probably many writers’ Holy Grail, it is still beside the point… we just need to write, we cannot live without constructing sentences and expressing ourselves in such a manner, even if it is only for ourselves to read… even if it is only for ourselves to make sense of our inner and outer worlds.

A writer is both a participant and an observer in life and it is this dichotomous friction which when in harmony produces the flame of  writing which illuminates. On the other hand, when the role of participant and observer are at odds which each other, which is more often than not the case, it produces the tortured frustration which can only be alleviated by putting pen to paper so to speak and letting the words spill out.  And the cycle then repeats itself.  It cannot be helped.  And this is why I write.

(c) Niconica 2011*

*does not apply to image/s

That Dreaded Writer’s Block

This is what writer‘s block feels like – a stack of papers which pile up in our brain and yet we are unable to make heads or tails of it all as it threatens presently to crash down upon us.  The paralysis and the frustration which ensues is unparalleled – knowing that there is an availability of ideas but not knowing which to pull out and use first or unable to even make sense of the incoherent jumble of ideas present in the archives of our minds.

It is during this point when it pays to seize the writing bug when it bites us and churn out a couple of posts in a frenzy – and stagger the release of the posts as suggested by The Daily Post (http://dailypost.wordpress.com).  There would really be some days where writing doesn’t flow quite easily.  Julia Cameron has also suggested in The Artist’s Way the use of the tool of the “Morning Pages” where one writes freely to empty one’s brain of all the words and thoughts jumbled up inside to make room for actual writing and/or creativity to flow.

Both these techniques have served me well to a certain extent – except that my “Morning Pages” are not actually done in the morning and they are not done as regularly as it has been prescribed.  I can imagine that if I had done it daily was recommended, that it would free up the clutter of my mind and reduce the so-called stacks of paper from threatening to heap upon me.

Another technique which has served me well when I am unable to write is to read books about writing and/or stories about writers and how they deal with the daily terror of the blank page.  However, it must be pointed out that reading tomes upon tomes of books about writing does not replace writing at all, even though reading the advice of writer’s about writing may feel that we are enveloped by the craft – it is almost too tempting to get lost in the illusion of it and not actually come out of the inspirational haze and plop ourselves down on our chairs and actually write.

Writing can only be accomplished by actually writing – by putting pen to paper, or by clicking away on the keyboard, or typewriter.  There is no other way.  Great and successful writers have managed to fully commit to writing – to write and churn out a certain word count a day for a certain number of hours whether they are in the mood or not.  For others who have not gotten to that point yet, it depends on one’s moods… and it has to be stressed that, when the mood strikes, we must seize the moment and squeeze out as many words as possible – to prepare for the period of drought to come.

(c) Niconica 2011*

*does not apply to image