Monday, May 19, 2008

A dread of nonfiction

At the editor's suggestion, I wrote a short article about spinning motifs in fairy tales for the new magazine Les Bonnes Fees. It'll appear in the first issue, out on June 15. I had fun doing the research and once I got started writing the article I had fun with that too--but gearing up to write an article is my least favorite writing activity.

I don't know why. I used to do a fair bit of article-writing, and in fact the biggest paycheck I've ever received from a piece of writing was for an article. And half the articles I've sold have been to magazines available on the shelves at any given B&N or Borders. Why can't this happen with my fiction?

Anyway, the editor has suggested I do a second article about spinning for the second issue, and of course I'll agree. It'll be fun once I get started on it. But until I start on it, I'll dread the whole thing and I'll complain a lot about it.

Just like I used to do when writing papers for class. Aha.

4 comments:

Cate Gardner said...

Ooh, congratulations.

Camille Alexa said...

I, too, have a non-fiction dread!

Sounds like your'e doing some cool stuff, though.

K.C. Shaw said...

Yeah, I like writing about spinning, which has been my hobby for about a decade now. And it's flattering to have someone request an article, although it was more of a right-person-at-the-right-time thing than any particular quality I possess. :)

Peta Jinnath Andersen said...

That's not entirely true, Kate (your page came up in a trackback, by the way, I promise I'm stalking you)--the way you presented your cover letter, your fiction, and the style therein were the deciding points in asking you to write for Fees. =c)