Writing Nonfiction: Not a Vacation

My new hairdresser, Jeannie, is an avid skier, but she says there's no such thing as a ski vacation. "Warm weather, palm trees, the tropics...that's a vacation. There's just too much work involved in skiing." I happen to agree with her.

Although the novel, and fiction in general, are still my passion, I've decided to make a commitment to writing nonfiction too. Short stuff, around 5000 words. True stories, you might say. Or maybe you'd call them personal essays. Or personal narratives. Or creative nonfiction. I'm really not sure what I'm writing, come to think of it, except I know the people and settings and situations are true, at least as far as I can remember, and they've had some sort of impact on me, or at least I think they have. And I thought it would be a nice, healthy little break, now and then, to focus on reality instead of my imaginary world. I even foolishly thought it might be easier to write.

But the more I write, the more I wonder what the heck I'm even creating. In cooking, you blend together a variety of ingredients, and you might not be sure what exactly it will taste like, but you have a pretty good idea most of the time where it's heading, and at least you know whether your masterpiece can be classified as an appetizer, or an entree, or dessert. Or whether it's French or Asian cuisine, or even fusion. I would think writing should be the same. But, at least in the nonfiction world, it's not that simple. I can say I'm writing nonfiction, just as I can say I'm cooking food. But because I can't put my finger on what exactly it is that I'm creating, I wonder if anyone would ever want to read it. It's kind of like walking into a restaurant and the menu simply says "food." With that sort of generality, it's not all that enticing.

So I worry, and I analyze, and I research, and I ask my writer friends to help me understand what I'm doing, and it wears me out some days, the same way you can come home from a vacation all worn out thinking you need to go back to work to rest. For me, I guess it's back to fiction. But stay tuned; the nonfiction journey, after all, has only just begun.