I have always believed personally that nonfiction is much easier to write than fiction. After all, it is basically just facts, right? I know there is a nonfiction writer reading this right now screaming NO! NO! NO! But that is the way I see it, right or wrong. For me it is much easier to write a nonfiction book and make it good.
First, you have to make sure your facts or ideas are correct. Then, you organize them into a pleasing and informative pattern. Maybe you decide to get creative and use a thrilling or fun format for your book. But for me, that’s where the creativity ends. There is no world-building, no in-depth characterization, no need to worry about plot twists or surprise endings. Just get the facts down in an easy-to-read manner and you are golden.
However, part of the reason I love writing fiction, and especially science fiction, is that I can let my imagination run wild. I can create almost anything in my mind as long as it is logical and follows the laws of science, even if it bends those laws a bit. When I read science fiction or watch a science fiction movie, the first and most important aspect I look for is whether or not I am challenged by a thought I have never had before. Even if the writing is average or the movie is poorly acted, if it challenges me to a concept I have never thought of before, I am thrilled with it.
I always want to challenge my readers to something new, something they may never have thought of before. I think as a fiction writer in my preferred genres, it is my responsibility to take the reader somewhere he or she was not expecting. If the characters have flaws and issues, it just makes it more fun for me. One of my greatest pleasures is to create a character that is a villain in one of my books and then develop that character to the point that the reader somehow begrudgingly begins to empathize with that villain, if only in a small way. Perhaps they understand why they killed as they did, or they at least feel sorry for that villain in the end.
I know what you are thinking: you want me to feel sorry for someone who just killed someone else? Well, yes, in a way. If I can do that then perhaps it will raise some questions in your mind and make you wonder. And wonderment is exactly why I write.
All the best!
Rodney