Difference Between Fiction and Non-fiction

I feel writing non-fiction comes easier to me than writing fiction. I know this for sure because I regularly get paid to write commercial/non-fiction content and of late almost all the clients seem to be quite happy. Sometimes I write 1000 words in just 30 minutes (I’m not talking about typing speed). On the other hand it takes me sometimes ages to write even 300 words of fiction. I’m happy about my comfort with non-fiction, but my unease with fiction saddens me.

Writing fiction is a totally different ball game. Of late I’m discovering it’s not about how well you can write, it’s about what you can write. I’ve been overly obsessive about improving my writing skills and this often acts as a hindrance. I think writing well is no big deal. It’s like having a high-quality flute but not being able to play it. A skilled flutist can evoke magic even with a hand-made, bamboo flute.

I got this feeling while doing riyaz (singing practice) in the morning. I try to practice extremely low and high scales and I can’t even say saregama properly. Whereas practicing higher and lower scales is essential for making the vocal chords strong and flexible, the real art exists in reciting shudh swaras (pure notes). From now onwards I’ll focus more on purity and less on flexibility and strength while not ignoring these attributes.

Similarly, I’m planning to focus less on improving my writing and more on actual writing because I think I know all the words I need to articulate what I want to. I can mould sentences in whichever way I want. The only thing that lacks is imagination. And the flora of imagination doesn’t grow on barren land. You have to make the land ready. You have to till it, you have to water it, you have to make it germ-free — what I’m trying to say is, due to the neglect my thoughts have become hard rocks. Hard rocks are good for creating structures (non-fiction), but healthy plants (fiction) cannot grow on them. Tell me to write a 300-word corporate website page and I’ll create a killer copy facilely, but tell me to conjure up a fancy and my brain falls down belly-up. The saving grace is I know what are the factors contributing to this stiffness of imagination.