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Chuck Klosterman is in town Oct. 2 to promote his new novel.

By Sarah McKenzie

Chuck Klosterman, the astute cultural critic known for his unique narrative voice, will be in town promoting his first novel “Downtown Owl” — a quirky tale about the lives of folks in a small town in North Dakota in the early 1980s. Klosterman will appear at the Triple Rock Social Club, 629 Cedar Ave. S., at 7 p.m. on Oct. 2. He recently spoke with the Downtown Journal about his new book.

Why did you decide to try fiction?

… There are certain things you can’t do in nonfiction. There are certain things about writing … If you write in a nonfictional, journalistic context, any sort of opinion or idea you have is going to be associated with the way you view the world. Sometimes it’s sort of nice to be able to create a character, have them say something interesting or entertaining, but isn’t necessarily my perspective or my world view.

Where did you get the idea for “Downtown Owl”?

It started with two real events.  … On the first page, there’s a reference to a blizzard. That blizzard is real. That’s where I sort of started from — my memory of that storm. There’s also that Gordon Kahl shooting — that tax evader. That happened in 1983. I wanted that to somehow be part of the story. So I kind of started with those two ideas and built a narrative in between them.

What did you learn from the experience of writing the book?

I’ve learned that writing fiction is much, much more difficult than writing nonfiction. That’s what I’ve learned. It’s hard to make up everything. That seems like an obvious answer. In some ways, you’d think it be easier because you just sort of do what you want … the little details are hard to constantly construct because you’re not reacting to something. You’re actually intellectually creating something in your mind. It took me a long time to do.

What advice would you give someone making the transition from nonfiction to fiction writing?

It’s the same advice I would give someone writing a nonfiction book, honestly. There are a million elements of writing that are important, but the only three that are really important are … you got to make sure it’s interesting, entertaining and clear. It has to be interesting in the sense that it should try to affect the way people view themselves or view the world. It should be entertaining so the experience itself is pleasurable. … And you try to have as much clarity as possible. The time I invest in writing, most of the effort is toward making sentences clearer and simpler. … The hope sort of is that when someone is reading the book they almost feel like they are writing it in their mind as they go along.

What do you hope people get out of this book?

I don’t know. … When you write nonfiction you’re trying to inject ideas into people or … sort of examine or contextualize something that somebody else can learn from. My main goal really is that they would be entertained by it.