Fiction Writing and Mindfulness

How can they work together?

Photo by Carli Jeen on Unsplash

Writing fiction requires the comprehension to see multiple points of view in relation to a storytelling perspective. Not only are you taking into consideration multiple audiences (those reading, the publishers, yourself, those the readers recommend it to, the characters in the stories themselves, the critics), you are also fitting these audiences into your narrative. Sometimes at the expense of your plot.

This is what can make fiction writing feel stuck, in a rut, or feeling like you can’t get anywhere with the story. It feels like you have a million different angles and choices and people to please but you’re just one person.

One person who is making up a story. It can be really hard to write mindfully. What do I mean by that?

Many people when they start out writing, they get stuck with the plot because they are thinking about characters from the third-person perspective. The story and characters are outside of themselves. This means when they think about the story, they are constantly thinking about a possible past and a possible future. And if you’re constantly swirling a timeline in your head, how is your main character supposed to stay in the moment and how are you to focus? Maybe that’s why you’re trying to write in the first person but end up writing third. You…