Pulitzer Prizes (or "Why I Don't Write Fiction")
Pulitzer Prizes were awarded today. I'm always so impressed with the people who win them. And that's why I haven't written fiction in years.
Seriously!
I used to enjoy 'creative writing' quite a bit. Then my sophomore year of college I took a "Creative Writing" class. It probably would have been an OK experience, except that one of the women in the class with me was Suzan-Lori Parks (if you don't know who she is, run a Google search). About half way through the class, we had an assignment to write about a relationship. I can't remember what I wrote about, but Lori wrote a story about date rape. It was so powerful, shocking, and stunningly written that, when we gathered in the tower room for the class to discuss our work for the week, the only thing any of us could thing to say was "was it from personal experience?"
I don't think I've written anything fictional since that class. It's as if I realized that I could never be as brilliant as Lori and so I just stopped trying. My dad always said "it's not whether you win or lose; it's how you play the game". Somehow I couldn't make his philosophy apply to something as personal as writing from my heart.
So congratulations to all those who won Pulitzers this year. I'm impressed. And just a little jealous!
Seriously!
I used to enjoy 'creative writing' quite a bit. Then my sophomore year of college I took a "Creative Writing" class. It probably would have been an OK experience, except that one of the women in the class with me was Suzan-Lori Parks (if you don't know who she is, run a Google search). About half way through the class, we had an assignment to write about a relationship. I can't remember what I wrote about, but Lori wrote a story about date rape. It was so powerful, shocking, and stunningly written that, when we gathered in the tower room for the class to discuss our work for the week, the only thing any of us could thing to say was "was it from personal experience?"
I don't think I've written anything fictional since that class. It's as if I realized that I could never be as brilliant as Lori and so I just stopped trying. My dad always said "it's not whether you win or lose; it's how you play the game". Somehow I couldn't make his philosophy apply to something as personal as writing from my heart.
So congratulations to all those who won Pulitzers this year. I'm impressed. And just a little jealous!