This week was full of writing fan fiction, a ten-page paper on Ambrose Bierce's use of the grotesque, and a four-page paper on the epigenetic effects of the Dutch Winter Hunger famine. Naturally, I came to wonder why I'm (if not particularly confident) comfortable with writing fan fiction, while these other writings felt more akin to having my teeth scraped at the dentist's.
One idea I targeted was that I don't like nonfiction. I don't have a tendency to read it, nor do I enjoy reading history books, no matter whether other students think a certain section was better than others. On the other hand, I like reading most types of fiction, particularly speculative, but not those that too closely try to mimic real life, like things based in high school (other than Seven Pieces of Chalk. If you are in a period of your life that is relatively stable emotionally, I demand that you read it, whether you're familiar with Hetalia or not). All of my fan fictions and original fictions are very much, well, fiction. Yet here I am, writing nonfiction in a blog, pretty much for enjoyment.
Next I thought it was the research. I definitely didn't like reading fancy literary journals, or most of my other sources (with the exception of an introduction written by someone named Italo). When I write stories, I really avoid all non-pathological research whenever possible. Yet I have found myself spending significant amounts of time browsing Google Earth satellite images of my setting in The Long and Winding Road. I've even done some very basic (read: rarely more than one paragraph of Wikipedia) research on historical topics for Hetalia fan fiction.
Maybe it's the formal tone of research papers? I prefer a more loose and snarky tone in my works, even if some characters' POV sections are more syntactically complex, etc. Yet I write entire formally-worded chemistry lessons in one of my fan fictions.
I guess it's some combination of the above that can't quite be generalised. I don't like nonfiction in general, but I make exceptions. It's also nice that, in my blog posts, it makes absolutely no difference how many words I use (although I do have word count requirements in almost all of my fan fictions). I don't like doing research unless it's either something that honestly interests me or for something that honestly interests me. I feel like formal writing is much too restrictive, but, utilised in small amounts for ultimately ironic purpose, it's all right.
Not that I'm absolutely sure about all of that. I'm terrible at judging my feelings in general.
Anyone else in a similar situation?
Interesting thoughts. Personally, I like fiction the best, like you, but I think I have more of a soft spot for non-fiction than you do. I feel like, in the right hands, non-fiction can read like fiction (okay, just when it's history. But I like reading things like Henry the VIII and his wives or World War II and such, and when it's written well, it comes off more like a story than real life). I find drier non-fiction, like essays and non-history-related information, to be rather boring, but I can write them well, I guess. I enjoy writing non-fiction-ish stuff about fiction, too, if that makes any sense (like, a guide to the districts and people of Panem, written like it's a RL information book. Don'tjudgeme.)
ReplyDeleteI'm not judging, haha.
DeleteYeah, I've heard that about history, but I just haven't felt it. Even in my beloved Bathroom Readers, it's rare that a history section catches my eye. Even so, I'm only happy for two or three pages of it.