Fiction: A Writer’s Secrets

The writers who discover what sets them apart are the writers with the best chance of succeeding. “Look inside yourself,” [Philip] Klass said. “Find out who you are. In your case, I suspect that means find out what you’re most afraid of, and that will be your subject for your life or until your fear changes.”

. . . Most people become writers because they’re haunted by secrets they need to tell. The writers might not know they have secrets, or if they suspect they do, they might not be sure what these mysteries are, but something in each person is bursting to get out, to be revealed.

David Morrell, Lessons From a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at His Craft, p. 15


Tricia’s Thoughts:

After my first novel was on the store shelves an old friend called. “It’s amazing that you were able to write so much of your story into that novel,” she said.

My story? No, she had to be wrong. This novel was about a Nazi wife in World War II. It had nothing to do with me. Or did it?

Looking back, I discovered that my main character, Helene, faced some of the same issues I had: a shameful past, abandonment by someone who claimed to love her, and the good news of freeing redemption.

In fact, my novel is filled with secrets for those who know where to look. The only thing is . . . I had no idea I was sharing them!