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I had a moment today when I was writing where I felt slightly frightened of what I was typing, not because it was a scary scene, but because I realized I was hashing out a fundamental life issue that's been a problem for me for a while and is a problem still.
I try not to work my issues out on paper, because I'm not sure anyone else would find them interesting. But just this once, I think it helped me to understand the story better and give the readers something I think they might feel a lot of sympathy for.
I also wanted to ask a question of my fellow writers, and that is this: Do you ever get so deeply tuned into a character when you're writing that when you step away from writing, you feel like you still have that character, the setting, the situations sort of overlaying all your thoughts.
For instance, when I went to bed last night after writing, I was getting into bed and for some reason I was imagining one of my characters and what they'd be like when they went to bed, and what they would do, and imagining for a few seconds that I was in their place.
It was a bit of an unsettling moment, because I'm quite cautious about my mental health and always a little afraid that I might one day come completely unhinged, so I try to check myself if I feel I'm going to a Crazy Place.
But I also told myself that maybe other writers do this, that perhaps it's not a sign that I'm beginning to break with reality or dissociate from my own identity (I shudder at the thought) - but that maybe it's just part of really getting down and dirty with your work, maybe some of the dirt stays under your nails and between your toes.
So, tell me, oh f-list that knows all, am I crazy or just a writer? And no, in this once instance, they are not interchangeable, though one can be forgiven for thinking so because creativity and madness are like identical twins that you have to get to know before you can tell them apart.
The Devil's Workshop
I try not to work my issues out on paper, because I'm not sure anyone else would find them interesting. But just this once, I think it helped me to understand the story better and give the readers something I think they might feel a lot of sympathy for.
I also wanted to ask a question of my fellow writers, and that is this: Do you ever get so deeply tuned into a character when you're writing that when you step away from writing, you feel like you still have that character, the setting, the situations sort of overlaying all your thoughts.
For instance, when I went to bed last night after writing, I was getting into bed and for some reason I was imagining one of my characters and what they'd be like when they went to bed, and what they would do, and imagining for a few seconds that I was in their place.
It was a bit of an unsettling moment, because I'm quite cautious about my mental health and always a little afraid that I might one day come completely unhinged, so I try to check myself if I feel I'm going to a Crazy Place.
But I also told myself that maybe other writers do this, that perhaps it's not a sign that I'm beginning to break with reality or dissociate from my own identity (I shudder at the thought) - but that maybe it's just part of really getting down and dirty with your work, maybe some of the dirt stays under your nails and between your toes.
So, tell me, oh f-list that knows all, am I crazy or just a writer? And no, in this once instance, they are not interchangeable, though one can be forgiven for thinking so because creativity and madness are like identical twins that you have to get to know before you can tell them apart.
The Devil's Workshop
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