Fairy Tales, Dream Stories, and the Hard Work of Writing
When you wake up thinking about a story, you’d best pay attention
I went to a reading by the novelist Karen Dionne back in 2017 for the release of her book, The Marsh King’s Daughter. She’d written four (I think) novels previously with limited sales, but had stayed with her calling. While casting about for the next thing to write, she had a moment of creative inspiration like few others.
She woke up with a character’s voice bidding her to write down a story. The story was set in Michigan’s Upper Penninsula, a place Karen had lived for nearly two decades with her husband. Karen was essentially possessed by this character, and quickly wrote out parts of the story.
A seasoned, professional novelist, Karen understood that this one voice was not likely enough to carry the entirety of a modern, commercial novel, so she set about the hard work of crafting one.
Despite the amazing bolt of creativity, it was hard work. But the result was like a fairy tale — a “Disney” fairy tale, with a happy ending — that brought significant book sales and a movie deal to Karen.
