Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Approaching Novel Writing With A Humorous Adventure Autobiography

By Karyn Shields


New writers often have trouble figuring out the best way to approach this creative endeavor. The standard rule of writing at least a little each and every day still works for a truly committed author, to some extent, but more is needed. An author may find barriers to their creativity more easily lifted if their first literary work is a humorous adventure autobiography.

The truth is great works of literature do not happen on pure imagination. Staying safe and warm never gave anyone a Eureka moment, and this includes writers as well as philosophers or scientists. No author worth their merit did all of their best work while sitting comfortably in their home.

Perhaps the most difficult part of coming up with such a novel idea is figuring out what sort of trip would be perfectly hilarious, intense, memorable, and interesting enough for fans to read about later. Motorcycle adventures spawned two epic novels; Easy Rider and Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. Even works of fiction such as Dune were created only after extensive travels and research had been conducted on the culture of Middle Eastern desert countries.

In order to experience a trip with such intensity, the person or persons making the trip must be in a situation that they cannot completely control. The more outlandish events become, the more fun it will be to write and to read about. Such trips should probably not be taken alone, however, as there is a strong element of danger that exists.

A wonderful exercise for any writer is to take off to a part of the world that is as opposite from what they are used to as possible. Travel from North America in February when it is bitter cold, to a place in South America that is in the full bloom of summer, for example. This can be even more profound if the author does not speak the language of the country where he or she is going.

Perhaps taking all the tourist trips offered in the area where one has lived their whole lives could provide a little hilarity. That might be an excellent way to start out the vacation, in fact. Prior to putting oneself at the mercy of circumstance, take some time learning what sorts of people visit the area where you live; where they come from, where they were born, where they live and what brings them to the area.

Some writers are too conservative to put themselves in any real harm or discomfort for the sake of writing, but the notion that taking an exciting vacation in order to gain real life experience can still stand. Very little is truly learned if one stays at home. Truly life is intended to be experienced actively, not as a passive observer.

Most people are not big into hand-written documents these days, and there is no harm in having recording equipment available. Video footage can really make a record of the trip and help any new writer remember all the details of their trip. Watching five minutes of video can bring back ten hours of what happened on a specific day.




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