On Assignment (Ch. 5)

"It's exactly the unexpected, the thing you never counted on, the problem that inspires an inventive solution, that can carry a fairly predictable piece to a new level." --Philip Gerard, page 87 of Creative Nonfiction

The idea of unpredictability being essential to writing is reverberated throughout every writing advice book I've ever read, fiction or nonfiction. I've never really been "on assignment," as in traveling somewhere to write about an event or place, but I have traveled. Traveling is one of the most unpredictable things you can do. Even with the best guidebooks and agendas, random crazy things happen all the time when you're out exploring unknown terrain. I can see how the randomness of travel and talking to strangers can add to writing so much. In this genre, we have to present life in a new way to people; we rely on those crazy moments and insights to make our writing more interesting. It's always that unexpected thing that makes your travel stories better when you return home, that problem you suddenly had to solve. That's what makes the best stories, conflict.