The Bridge on the River Mandamus
David and Sarah discuss Joe Biden's polling lead in six swing states, the latest development in the Michael Flynn case, the Supreme Court ruling on asylum seekers, and free speech online.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Bluebook podcast; yes please!
David,
I am about the same age as you (just turned 50), have written a ton of non-fiction for K-12 education, and had convinced myself that I was incapable of writing fiction. Then, back in November, I was talking to my 11-year-old son about a book series he was reading, and I said "You know, I'll bet you and I could write a book like that." He said "Sure, why not?", and we started sketching out an idea. About 8 months later, we have a 350-page book that I don't think is half bad.
What I found was that I needed someone else to help me think through the ideas and add a little creative sauce. I also found that my non-fiction background made me good at narrating the action that was happening, but I had to really work on trying to paint a picture for the reader. But after sketching out the basic premise of the book, I was able to imagine an initial scene, and just started writing. It wasn't super natural at first, but it became easier as we went (I would do all the writing, but my son and I developed the ideas together).
So my advice is find a creative partner, sketch out the premise and the characters, and then start writing. It actually became something I looked forward to, and I think I derived more joy from writing that than from just about anything else I've written.