This is one of my favorite topics to talk about, though it seems like my answer changes from time to time. The short answer is that I write for escape. I’ve always been disappointed by life, so through writing, I could experience all the things I never got to do in real life. Of course, approaching fiction from this angle risks the temptation to write wish fulfillment fantasy with unrealistic, perfect characters. This kind of writing is generally fun for the writer but not for the reader.
I hope to avoid this trap and make my characters flawed and have bad things happen to them, but I can’t write a character who is smarter than I am so I often have trouble figuring out ways to solve their problems. In my own life, I play things too safe to get into any real trouble, but this is also why I don’t have many adventures of my own and have to write about them. Plot is my biggest challenge.
This is one of the reasons I started writing poetry. I liked the idea of capturing an image like a photograph and letting readers bring their own interpretation to it. I didn’t even consider readers much until I started posting my poetry on Instagram last year and received positive responses to it. I was writing for myself, but by taking the risk of putting my work out there, I learned that people actually liked what I was creating. That’s a powerful feeling for a writer.
To be honest, I don’t enjoy reading too many plot-heavy books. I like novels that set up worlds I want to live in. If I find a setting I like, I don’t want to race along to the next scene or plot point too quickly. I don’t want to see the universe completely burned down in the finale. I want to know what to expect. Cozy mystery series are excellent for this. Each book solves a murder, but the next installment in the series picks up in the same quaint little town, and I get to visit the same fun side characters again.
I’ve been working on a contemporary fantasy series of six books for the past six years, and while I have the big plot points figured out, I’ve been having a bit of trouble figuring out how to move to those points logically. Last summer while on a break from the series, I wrote over 30,000 words about the day to day life of my main character and the man she marries after the end of the last book. These were just vignettes, not even enough plot to make a short story, but I absolutely loved writing them.
My reasons for writing and my tastes in reading can and probably will change again, but for now, it’s all about comfort and escape. I’m not out to change the world or work through difficult emotions, though I respect anyone who takes on those challenges. I cringe at anything I write based on my own life. Creating my own world in my writing helps me make it through this one.
Michelle Wicklow 