New and Strange Things. You have now seen that phrase thrice since you came to this blog: the title of this blog, the title of this post, and again in the post, because I couldn't think of a better way to start this.
I am a writer.
I hope that the things that I write are new. That is the meaning of the word novel. Like novelty.* Writing is the only activity where a person can create hundreds of new things every day. Daily, I invent concepts that no one else has ever thought of. I hope. This does not mean that fiction should not include old themes, only that there should be no cliches. You want the reader to enjoy something you write because it is different.
Originality is what I strive for as I write my novels, which leads to the second part of the title.
The things that I write are strange. Ever since I started writing there is a lot that is strange in my writings, especially as I have started writing dsytopian-type fiction. But strangeness is important. If we only write about what is normal, then we probably will never write anything interesting in our fiction. A lot of fiction begins with a main character that leads a normal sort of life. And then something happens, like the character meets someone important, discovers a hidden world (portal fantasy), or something else life-changing happens. It's when the strangeness comes in that the story really starts.
That doesn't mean that something really bizarre has to happen in fiction to make it interesting. Sometimes that is needed for the story. Sometimes it just has to be strange enough to be different. To be new.
If I wrote things that were not strange, they would probably not be new, either. New-ness and strange-ness go together in all good fiction writing. Without those two concepts, the reading of fiction would lose its appeal immediately. People don't want to read about people that are "just like them" and live a life "just like theirs"--at least I don't! I read fiction for the reason that it is not like what I, as a "normal" person experience.
I want to read things that are different. I want to read things that are strange. So that is why I strive to keep those two concepts in mind as I write.
The whole point of fiction can be summed up with these two words.
New and Strange.
Welcome.
*If I am wrong on that, I apologize for leading you astray. I have broken a rule of writing: get your facts right before stating them as facts. I may break many rules on this blog in the future, but I only do it out of either necessity or convince. Which are the main reasons for someone to break any kind of rule, for that matter.
