Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Because I Don't Live in the Real World

I had my two days of discouragement. I admit to getting close to tears on the tomato sauce and canned pea aisle of the grocery store. (Canned peas are plenty of reason to cry, believe me!) But now I'm entering another writing contest. The amazing crew over at Writer Therapy.com reminded me of one reason I write. I love the created world of books. I may fall asleep thinking of ways to fix my plot or strengthen a character's motivation. Someone once told me, "I can't read fiction. How can you stand stories that aren't real?"

My answer: How can you stand a life that doesn't include the power of story? It gives us an escape. Yet stories help us understand the rest of life--insight, empathy, even hope. If my character can fight off flames with a fire extinguisher and a bottle of root beer, I can re-write his query for the 101rst time.

1 comment:

Alice said...

Good luck with the contest. All we can do is keep trying and hope one of these days it pays off, but along the way even if it doesn't we can still enjoy it and learn something!