Non-Fiction and What I Have to Say

A few terms ago, I took a Popular Fiction course in which we read Stephen King's On Writing.  Reading about non-fiction as a form of literature in Zinsser's On Writing Well reminded me of a section in King's book.  King wrote:

"I have spent a good many years since - too many, I think -being ashamed about what I write.  I think I was forty before I realized that almost every other writer of fiction and poetry who has ever published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her God-given talent.  If you write (or paint or dance or sculpt or sing, I suppose), someone will try to make you feel lousy about it, that's all."

I appreciate what both Zinsser and King have to say about the various forms of writing.  "Ultimately every writer must follow the path that feels most comfortable.  For most people learning to write, that path is non-fiction," writes Zinnser. Non-fiction, Science Fiction, poetry, etc. are all valid writing styles. They can all be literature. Zinnser's statement about learning to write in the most comfortable manner was helpful to me. No matter how I've tried or pined,  I certainly am not a poet or a fiction writer, but I do love to write.  Non-fiction is my medium.  It allows me, as Zinnser says, to write what I know. Recently, I've found myself being somewhat disappointed that what I have to write about, what I know right now is motherhood, marriage, and my faith...and not much more.  I live work, school, church, and home life, even my hobbies have taken a backseat.  It is encouraging to read two well-respected  authors say not to be discouraged or embarrassed at what I have to say, but just to say it effectively and as well as I can.

That being said, I'm extremely excited to have an opportunity to practice the craft of non-fiction and work to hone my skills.  I'm hoping that while writing this term, I will find a direction and a voice I'd like to write in for my own projects.  It is difficult as a working mother to find time to write, and I'm grateful for this opportunity to spend eight weeks  learning to better write pieces of non-fiction.  Ultimately, I think writing non-fiction would be a great way to make a supplemental income while exploring subjects that I find interesting.

I am terrified, of course, that I will find that I have nothing to say.  Either nothing original to say, or nothing to say originally.  So, while my great big hope is that I will hone my skills enough to write for profit (and fun, of course), my first hope is that I can figure out something worthwhile to say.