Fiction and Public Relations Writing

Writer to the World Tries a New Genre

One of the fallacies about writers is that we can only write well in a single style or genre.  This is promoted indirectly by employers who are looking for a certain type or writer, whether it be technical writer, public relations writer, marketing writer or proposal writer.  These categories refer only to the applicable strategy, and those are relatively easy to pick up in most cases.  Someone with my level of experience has no difficulty switching among the various strategies and writing types, because I’ve done virtually all of them.  Fiction has been a notable exception up until now though.

The decision to expand into fiction writing is really an extension of other interests.  This first effort will be for a children’s audience in the seven to 12 age group.  It will be a metaphorical fantasy with applicable lessons in real life.  Think of it as a cross between Harry Potter and Aesop’s Fables.

Most fiction writing is based upon the classic three-act play in which the protagonist or hero is presented with a problem in the first act and decides upon a course of action.  The reader then follows the protagonist as his plan unfolds with its inherent complications and consequences.  In the middle of the second act, the action reaches a climax.  The protagonist’s choices at this point will result in the resolution in the third and final act.

The above description is easy enough to understand, but what makes fiction slightly more challenging is the variety of subplots.  Each major character is a potential opportunity to develop a subplot with it’s own dramatic arc that intersects the main plot.  However, the third act is when all plots have to be satisfactorily resolved, and ideally, all the plot types come together with a coherent and satisfying conclusion.

The most interesting part of this exercise is the similarity it has with public relations work.  In public relations writing, we’re managing a storyline in real time, but the characters and challenges are quite real.  Figuring out when and where the climax points are likely to be is much more difficult and less predictable in public relations work, although most of the time, I’m quite accurate.  One of the benefits of having covered court trials as a journalist for more than 20 years is a finely honed sense of when the important events are going to happen.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be writing a contrast/comparison piece about managing a storyline in real life and one in fiction.  I promise it will be interesting and informative.  It should be finished before I publish the next edition of e-newsletter, Marcomm Roundup. 

Meanwhile, I’m about 6,300 words into the fiction piece that will probably weigh in at about 9,000 words or so.  From there, I’ll write a book proposal and start pitching it to publishers.  Wish me luck.