View over my back deck, April 2011.
About My Writing
_In novels and
short stories, I start with a kernel of truth from what I see. If I stick to
the truth, it’ll be an essay. If I twist the truth, elaborate on it, exaggerate
and recombine parts from different observations, it'll be my fictional attempt to find out what could happen.
Characters in the contemporary novel I am currently working on are creating new lives in response to their middle class world that is going through an economic and political downturn. One of my characters finds himself far from his sense of humanity. He becomes so delusional that he gets lost in his own mistaken points of view. We get to watch him get laid off, get drunk, go bonkers and then he moves to a clothing-optional hot-tub retreat center, and finally gets vulnerable and more balanced. Another character goes through a week of profound loss when she discovers her friend is having an affair with her husband. She expresses her temper and throws some things through the wall that hit someone on the head. She gets laid off in the same week. Some of the characters generate new lives in ways that remind us of kindness and dignity. Some of it is true, but I won’t tell you which parts. It didn’t happen exactly that way, so I’m calling it fiction.
In creative non-fiction, I also write what I see, and give you my opinion about it. Sometimes I write to vent my cynicism about our world, and our relationships, or lack of relationships. Underneath the angst is a search for proof that we really are trying to treat each other better and that we do have each other’s best interests at heart.
One in-progress essay explores how individual expression helps our society, when the news reports that individual expression results in getting beat up and put down. I enjoy writing about what people do that inspires me and reinvigorates my faith in humanity. I like to find and share the strategies that improve life’s quality. Another in-progress essay is about what I’ve learned while having to re-learn how to walk on my feet, and then on stilts. Walking on stilts literally and metaphorically gives a broader point of view.
In fiction and non-fiction I sometimes write from my idealistic desires, and look for examples of how the world supports our most creative and healthiest lives. In this world, people reach out to each other, creativity is honored, everyone has a place, and is supported to be their best self.
Throughout all my writing, I am curious about creativity and its connection to capitalism. Creative visionaries that change our world influence me. Sometimes they generate financial fortunes, and sometimes the fortune they generate is in the heart.
Throughout my writing I enjoy showing how traits that first show up in a small way, get repeated and/or combined with other traits, then possibly grow into a social trend.
All my writing starts with a kernel of truth. Sometimes people respond by saying, “You couldn’t make this stuff up,” and others respond, “This could never happen.” I observe what's happening, and think of possibilities.
Contact Wendy Sterndale: ws(at)wendysterndale(dot)com
Characters in the contemporary novel I am currently working on are creating new lives in response to their middle class world that is going through an economic and political downturn. One of my characters finds himself far from his sense of humanity. He becomes so delusional that he gets lost in his own mistaken points of view. We get to watch him get laid off, get drunk, go bonkers and then he moves to a clothing-optional hot-tub retreat center, and finally gets vulnerable and more balanced. Another character goes through a week of profound loss when she discovers her friend is having an affair with her husband. She expresses her temper and throws some things through the wall that hit someone on the head. She gets laid off in the same week. Some of the characters generate new lives in ways that remind us of kindness and dignity. Some of it is true, but I won’t tell you which parts. It didn’t happen exactly that way, so I’m calling it fiction.
In creative non-fiction, I also write what I see, and give you my opinion about it. Sometimes I write to vent my cynicism about our world, and our relationships, or lack of relationships. Underneath the angst is a search for proof that we really are trying to treat each other better and that we do have each other’s best interests at heart.
One in-progress essay explores how individual expression helps our society, when the news reports that individual expression results in getting beat up and put down. I enjoy writing about what people do that inspires me and reinvigorates my faith in humanity. I like to find and share the strategies that improve life’s quality. Another in-progress essay is about what I’ve learned while having to re-learn how to walk on my feet, and then on stilts. Walking on stilts literally and metaphorically gives a broader point of view.
In fiction and non-fiction I sometimes write from my idealistic desires, and look for examples of how the world supports our most creative and healthiest lives. In this world, people reach out to each other, creativity is honored, everyone has a place, and is supported to be their best self.
Throughout all my writing, I am curious about creativity and its connection to capitalism. Creative visionaries that change our world influence me. Sometimes they generate financial fortunes, and sometimes the fortune they generate is in the heart.
Throughout my writing I enjoy showing how traits that first show up in a small way, get repeated and/or combined with other traits, then possibly grow into a social trend.
All my writing starts with a kernel of truth. Sometimes people respond by saying, “You couldn’t make this stuff up,” and others respond, “This could never happen.” I observe what's happening, and think of possibilities.
Contact Wendy Sterndale: ws(at)wendysterndale(dot)com