You might recall that some time ago I completely revamped the main site of Home for Fiction. In the same post I mentioned how one day, if I’d only find the motivation and energy, I’d completely redo the blog, too. Turns out, anger is great motivation. You’re reading a brand new Home for Fiction blog.
Where the anger (and motivation) came from? Before I tell you, know this: The whole process took about a week. It would’ve likely taken even less if it hadn’t happened during the holidays. That’s right; it took me about a week to go from “fuck this shit!” to coding my blog from scratch. Here’s how – and why anger, with certain constraints, can be useful.
This is the image that greets you on the front page of the Home for Fiction blog. Albert Camus’s quotation below it is also relevant to a discussion on anger and motivation: “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”(more…)
Today’s post is the result of a challenge I decided to give myself: What would happen if I gave myself a writing prompt and 15 minutes’ time to produce something? The task is even more challenging considering writing flash fiction is something I discovered relatively recently.
I’ve of course written tons of text in general – including short stories and even a similar kind of challenge – but this is a rather unique situation. As I said, writing flash fiction is something I’ve done less – and certainly not under pressure. But it’s important to get out of our comfort zone and try new things.
Here’s the methodology I decided to follow for this flash fiction challenge:
Prepare the post structure and metadata (headings, post category, etc.)
Write the introduction to this post (what you’re reading right now).
Use my Storytelling Dice to give myself a writing prompt. Note: At first I thought I’d just use the first generated image, but I then decided to generate a few, until I’d get something intriguing.
Start the clock, and start writing a flash fiction story!
Check for/correct minor typos.
Add a concluding section with the “how it felt” part.
I’m about to start “rolling the dice” and then I’ll start writing. The story begins under the image below – which is the writing prompt I got from the storytelling dice (I plan to add it after I finish writing). Let’s see how this goes!
Whenever someone says “always”, “never”, or “everyone”, be very suspicious. I am too of my own utterance. Never write another novel? Never say never again! However, at this point in time, and with enough experience behind me, I do feel that way: I will likely never write another novel in the foreseeable future.
Why I feel that way might be a useful thought direction to you as well, especially if you’re a writer, but also if you’re simply someone interested in what art and expression mean in today’s world. More still, what forms creative writing takes and why I feel a novel is currently not among my favorite such forms.
Here’s one of the reasons why I may “never” write another novel: I’ve begun painting, which feels like a more direct, more idea-based form of art, compared to a novel which is a sustained, in-depth exploration(more…)
