Researching (Ch. 3)

"The best attitude to have going into a story is, I don't know what's going to happen, but whatever it is, it's going to be interesting." --Bob Reiss, quoted by Philip Gerard in Creative Nonfiction, page 33

One of the reasons I love writing is because it's suspenseful. I really have no idea what could happen when I pick a topic and start writing; I've had short stories turn into poems, essays turn into nonfiction pieces, and so on. And one of the most important things that writing has taught me over the years is that you have to let the writing happen; you can't force a piece to be what you want, because then it isn't really art. Art happens from a place inside of you that you usually aren't aware of or in touch with. It's letting other people see into that place that allows artists to connect with their audience, or reader, or whatever. And deciding where the story's going to go before it's even started just ruins the adventure.