Words on paper: an exploration of the creative process in six stories

Many writers, writing out of a love of language, a need for expression, a desire to be heard, choose fiction as their vehicle for universal truth. In drawing upon personal experience as a source of that truth, writers discover and/or experience; the creative process, the art of writing, insight into a subjective past, and enrichment through the creative act. As a demonstration of that process, this thesis employees autobiographical elements as a source for original fiction purporting to evoke recognition of truth in the reader.

Preparation included reading essays by Margaret Atwood, Eudora Welty, Joyce Carol Oates, and Alice Munro on fiction as a literary art form. Additionally, the written testimony of writers such as William Faulkner, Frank O'Connor, James Thurber, Robert Penn Warren, Truman Capote and others, revealed how and why writers write, their sources, methods, struggles, and successes. In reviewing the technical aspects of writing, particular attention was paid to style, point of view, narration, form, and construction, keeping in mind purpose and application. Applying researched information and creating the fiction in this thesis resulted in greater knowledge and understanding of the creative process and the writing art.