An Interview With Writer Rachel Swearingen

Swearingen's reading will take place on Thursday, April 6th, at 6 p.m. in the Metzgar Center. It is free and open to the public. Theodore Wolf (TW) : Why do you write? What started you on your writing journey, and why do you write fictionFiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places in ways that are imaginary or inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a narrow sense, "fiction" refers to written narratives in prose – often referring specifically to novels, novellas, and short stories.[4][5] More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games.... and short stories specifically? Rachel Swearingen (RS) : I'm at a point in my writing where I'm trying to get back to those original questions. I started writing very young, and I'm not sure how it's been for you, but for me, there were a lot of oral storytellers in my family. I loved listening to stories. When I took my first creative writing class, I realized I could write throughout my life, that I could do something I love that came naturally to me. That's where it started, with loving hearing stories as a kid and enjoying making things up. Why short stories? I actually started out as a novelist, but I had these crazy, elaborate stories that got so out of control. I just didn't have the chops to finish them. Also, I didn't have enough lived experience yet. When I started taking writing classes, my instructors asked for short stories rather than novel chapters. I thought the form would be a great way to learn the craft, but I'm still learning because short stories are more challenging than […]