“I think it is challenging trying to make [your writing] as real to the reader as possible. Instead of just like, ‘oh this happened and this happened and this happened.’ to make it come alive. When I read things, I like to have a vision in my head like a movie, and that’s how I would like my writing to be. And I get frustrated because I start writing things and I’m thinking, ‘well, it’s not like that or it’s not like this,’ and I just keep on erasing and erasing. So, I have a tendency to want my reader to see it the way that it actually happened, instead of allowing the reader to have it in their minds and kind of use their own creativity. So I need to let that go because allowing the reader to have their own creativity will actually make it even stronger.”
Allison Sprouse is a GMU alumni and currently teaches English in Stuarts Draft, VA.