Out of Our Heads

I've always tried to infuse elements of pure imagination into my stories, even if they are categorized as realistic fiction. You can see it in my early novels, mostly just in imagery, but it's there. In later books like Thief and Life is But a Dream, this pull becomes even clearer. And since then, I've been wrapped up in manuscripts that are more traditional fantasy. Perhaps that is why the novel which is currently out on submission is the complete opposite. It's steeped in reality, actually taking place over the course of one day. But with that out of my system, I seem poised for another run at the imaginative worlds. 

I've always wanted to create worlds within my writing that stood apart from ours. Until recently, I suppose I never felt like I had enough experience to pull it off..at least not to my standards. In my early novels, I was able to achieve a sense of this simply by having them all connected through the characters. So even though the stories existed within our world, they were able to carve out their own little section. But now I feel confident enough to tackle some of these more immaginative stories that have lived inside of me for so long.

Writing is about knowing your limitations. As with any artistic form, you need to be aware of what you do very well and what you don't. That is not to say you shouldn't be ambitious, or push yourself, but you should also avoid setting yourself up for failure. I honestly believe that is the primary reason most young writers give up writing at some point. The quickly come to think they can't write, when actually, it might simply be a matter of not being able to write the story they've attempted.