Victor Meldrew?
After my last blog post my wife accused me of sounding like Victor Meldrew. Well I don't believe it for one minute.
The point I was trying to make is sometimes people lose sight of what fiction writing is about. We writers are just as guilty.
How many times have you tried to sneak in a fact that you unearthed doing your research? Tempting isn't it? Sometimes you can because it forms part of the overall experience of a place or situation. Sometimes it just shouts 'Look what I found!'
Our job is to entertain. We may not look like court jesters or jugglers but essentially that is what we are. Now there are writers whose job it is to provoke meaningful discussions or philosophical debates, and others to educate and inform. Don't get me wrong, fiction writers can educate and provoke debate in their writings, but my belief is that it should be secondary to the story. Believable characters the readers are desperately hoping will overcome their difficulties, and a story line that has them turning the pages. That should be our aim. I know that's where I am aiming. Whether I succeed or not is only for the reader to judge. In the meantime I'll keep striving to do my best.
No comments:
Post a Comment