Dilettante to Dynamo: A Beginning Writer's Adventures

Recently there have been a number of striking news stories. A few of them sound as if the details have been plucked straight from the plot of the latest Hollywood blockbuster. There are three at the forefront of my mind as I ponder the subject and write this post:
1. The Norwegian massacre
2. News corp and the phone hacking scandal
3. The Mosman bombing ordeal (Sydney, Australia)

Among the many things I find challenging when it comes to fiction writing is finding the balance between creative and unique versus not going OTT and beyond the realms of believability.

I've just completes a one week 'Reboot Your Imagination' course with Beth Daniels. Over the course of the week we completed one writing exercise a day using the blind librarian  technique. It was definitely good fun and achieved its goal of getting the creative juices flowing. As a group we pushed through the boundaries of ordinary and created some really whacky stories.

I hadn't ever considered the incorporation of magical, sci-fi, paranormal elements into my own writing before. Why? 'Because that's just not me.' I was especially resistant to the idea of using magic and other such notions in my writing as I felt it was a cop-out, a way of bridging gaps that I hadn't thought through properly.

(Not so - each of the aforementioned genres need as much thought and attention to detail as any other. It's funny how the mind can create unfounded justifications for not attempting something.)

However I have to admit that forcing myself to write outside of my comfort zone was exhilarating. It reignited my fading flame to a roaring fire and the ideas were flowing! It made me realise that there are many ways to inject a unique twist into one's writing and keep it believable for the reader.

It still bugs me that movies are able to get away with the most outrageous things where literature is not, but I guess it's all about satisfying the reader...and I'd be highly annoyed if the market was suddenly flooded with substandard, unbelievable stories.