I
generally focus on non-fiction, and, if I’m honest, I’ve always been sceptical
of fiction as “telling stories” rather than “telling the truth.” You can
interpret that anyway you wish! That, despite the fact that Jesus was perhaps
the greatest recorded “story-teller” of history.
Jesus’
genius was finding spiritual application from the everyday things that
surrounded him: sheep, seeding, and so on, and the endless variety of human
foibles. In contrast, an inadequate imagination has always been my handicap.
But back to
my non-fiction fixation. I wanted to write a book detailing the reasons I’m a
Christian. I’d have no difficulty in filling many chapters. And if I did, I’d
eventually have one book in ten thousand that no-one wanted to read, and
perhaps exalted me well above my rank.
But slowly
the ideas of fiction began to gel in my mind, partly as Ann and I started
writing our war stories. It was necessary to include some fiction categories to
complete the stories and make them readable. Something towards, but, I hoped,
short of full dramatization
The
idea of combining the virtues of the faith with a novel began to take root and
make sense; something centuries of fiction writers already knew. First, I wrote
a short story—about 6000 words, perhaps not so short—in response to a
competition, for which I received a polite “thankyou.” Damned by faint praise!
Then I wrote
a novel—about 70,000 words—incorporating my ideas. It was an enjoyable
experience; with the characters and the plot often taking on a life of their
own. A good writer friend read it and suggested it “wasn’t a page turner,” and
I should “reduce it by a third”!
However, I
was already beginning to see major problems with it, and a few fiction workshops
confirmed my concerns and added a few more. I was finding out, by the writing
itself, and what I learned since, fiction has a lot more constraints
surrounding it that at first thought.
Surprising,
for surely, here is a genre where even the sky isn’t the limit; it gives
freedom to go beyond imagination, and liberty (license?) to say whatever I
want. Yet even fiction must follow guidelines if its intended audience will
pick it up and read. And those guidelines change constantly, decade by decade.
However, the
idea of a novel lives on in my bucket list, but next time with far more wisdom
and appreciation of the art. And with the numerous recognized fiction writers
as mentors in InScribe and The Word Guild, it could become a meaningful
creation.
