Creative writing

As I alluded to yesterday as I was headed out the door, I attended a talk at the Boulder Book Store by Cynthia Morris, author of "Create Your Writer's Life". I was simply attending out of general interest, but the crowded room was packed with writers and budding writers, all wanting the latest tips on how to get past writer's block and get published and make lots of money.

The thing that struck me was that although I am very interested in writing, how little interest I actually have in so-called "creative writing". I'm simply not into long, drawn-out "stories" and narrative. I want facts. I want to make progress. I want to find answers or at least make progress towards answers. All the flowery prose and insignificant details ("Yes, but what does this character actually *look* like...") bores me. Yes, I'm at least marginally willing to sift through the details to get the facts, but these people seem to revel in all that I seek to avoid.

I do like reading trash thrillers (e.g., Tom Clancy, James Patterson, Ken Follett, et al), but it's the pattern of facts that interest me, not the petty details and overly-elaborate prose. I read them to help slow my mind to help me go to sleep at night.

Maybe the issue is that I rate function over form and style, by a mile.

-- Jack Krupansky