The Art of Fiction is a collection of lectures Ayn Rand gave in 1958 in her living room (can you imagine being there!) on the four elements of fiction—theme, plot, characterization, and style. Was this a difficult book to read because I am still intimidated by fiction?
Most of my writing is from my life experiences or secondhand as an observer of someone else’s experience. Only in the past three years have I ventured into pure fiction. Wait, I lied. About ten years ago, I wrote one piece from a writing prompt. The prompt was one word—Hobbs. Out of that I created a larger than life character who is stabbed. Totally out of my circle of writing interests. It was really good writing for a first draft, fast paced, with very little description. All at the opposite end of my writing spectrum. It was also a little scary. It got filed in the take out and examine sometime in the future category. The theme section is what both called to me and has intimidated me for years. A topic for solitary self-exploration. Until classic book #12, Story Engineering by Larry Brooks.
