What is fiction? How do you write it?
People often ask me how I come up with ideas for stories. They tell me, “I could never do that.” To which I politely reply: “Baloney.”
Coming up with a story idea is the easiest thing in the world. Fiction, at its most basic, is simply asking the question “What if…” and then answering it. In fact, you probably do this all the time without realizing it.
When you have indigestion and wonder, What if I’d had the fish instead of the steak? that’s a “what if.” When you see someone stranded on the side of the road and think, What if that were me? Or when you hear about a tragedy far away and ask, What if that had happened here? you’re already telling stories in your head.
These hypothetical scenarios may not be epic tales (e.g., What if I’d had the fish? I wouldn’t have indigestion. The End. Add “And they all lived happily ever after” if you want), but they are stories. The difference is, a fiction writer puts them on paper.
That’s all fiction is: the answer to a “what if.” How many of these can you recognize?
- What if a hobbit found a magic ring?
- What if the only person who could help catch a serial killer was a cannibal?
- What if an ordinary boy discovered he was a wizard?
- What if a vampire fell in love with a human?
- What if aliens invaded Earth?
- What if our entire existence was just a computer simulation?
- What if a giant shark went on a rampage?
- What if an ordinary man found out what the world would’ve been like if he’d never been born?
All of these are “what if” questions turned into stories. The fiction writer just takes the idea further—explores the consequences, builds a world, creates characters, and then asks “what if” again and again.
Even when you say, “I wish,” you’re really doing the same thing. I wish I had someone to do this work for me is just What if I had someone to do my work for me? The answers write themselves: I could go to the beach. I’d get a raise. I wouldn’t be so stressed. That’s a story. A fiction writer just keeps layering it with more “what ifs.”
Let’s run with that.
What if I had someone to do my work for me?
What if that someone was a gnome?
What if I was the only one who could see him?
What if he had a tendency to pass gas at the worst possible moments?
What if one of his favorite hobbies was playing practical jokes on my co-workers?
What if he thought the one co-worker I can’t stand is my perfect soulmate?
What if he really, really hated my boss?
See?
Now, the trick to successful fiction is twofold:
- You need to tell the story in a way that makes people want to read it. That means creating compelling characters, building interesting plots, and describing places and events in vivid ways that bring it all to life.
- You need to write it down using basic grammar and structure, at least most of the time.
Luckily, both of these skills can be learned. There are great books, workshops, and online communities that can help you improve. (And honestly, if grammar isn’t your thing, you can always hire someone to help with that part. Just saying.)
Well, okay, there is one more ingredient.
The difference between a successful writer and a frustrated one often comes down to drive, discipline, and passion (and a flat-out refusal to give up). Most writers will run into a hundred walls before they find one with a door. Some give up. Some take rejection or criticism too personally. But the ones who succeed are the ones who keep going, who keep improving, keep believing, and keep searching until they find that door.
Even if a few bricks fall on their heads along the way.