When I started telling people I was a writer, naturally they asked, “What kind of writing do you do?” I’d be stuck for an answer. I’d tell one person that I wrote thrillers, another that I wrote mysteries, and finally I just told them “literary fiction.” Mostly, what I wrote was characters standing around waiting for something to happen. It was like reading the phone book: no plot, but a hell of a cast.
Well, last week, Eden Mabee wrote a thought-provoking sponsor post on the ROW80 blog called “Honoring Who You Are.” Right up front, she asks
Do you know who you are as opposed to who you want to be? Do you respect that person’s needs and passions? Do you even know those needs and passions?
You know what? I didn’t have a clue. So I thought and prayed about it.
Turns out, I was telling people I wrote various kinds of fiction, but in truth I didn’t want to write fiction. I don’t even like to read it that much. I wanted to write stories about my family. I wanted to write humorous essays. My heroes were newspaper columnists, not novelists. I don’t (intentionally) write fiction on this blog. It’s why I like doing it so much. I like to persuade, inform, and entertain, just as I did when I was a trainer for all those years.
In short, I write creative non-fiction. That’s where my passion is. That’s what I want to do. Does that mean I’ll never write fiction again? Of course not. I’ve just come to the conclusion that’s not where I belong right now.
Thanks for listening.
How about you? Are you doing what you want to do?
The Sound of One Hand Typing 