Good morning, let’s go!
The world is full of people you don’t know, but have they have the same basic needs and wants. They have different personalities. They have different desires. They have different circumstances and situations. When these things come together over time we get the world we live in now.
The joy of reading and writing fiction is in the creation of people, places, and circumstances that let us explore “What If” scenarios. These mental exercises, have real world applications IF we are brave enough to take advantage of them. If we treat them like they are real, like it is a life we lived. If we treat it like something that happened to us- it gives us a simulated experience that our brains can learn and grow from.
The simple reason is we are all main characters, minor characters, background fillers, from world leaders to beggars- in someone else’s life we have a role. Some of us are the bagger at the grocery store, some the villain who buys all the available housing in a neighborhood for their own personal gain. Some of us are on a journey to lead a team, and others are in a comedy of fools trying to get rich off pyramid schemes. Some are greedy politicians and others activists fighting to gain freedoms and rights.
I ended my NaNoWriMo challenge way early.
The story was stalling, and I was forcing too much. The story needed the Why’s of what is going on. I understand NaNoWriMo is pushing through so you have something to edit. And I could have continued to force the story along. Shit was action/plot driven. The Character development was nonexistent, and I had to make up Why’s along the way. Which would be fine if I also didn’t have a word count to hit and a mental clock ticking. I chose to end the challenge. The simple reason is I needed the mental space- adding the unnecessary stress in my already stressed life wasn’t helping.
Writing to finish a book you love, writing to get published, writing because you are pursuing a dream to be an author, isn’t the same as pushing yourself to work at someone else’s creative pace.
It isn’t the same as grinding through because the story you are writing is consuming you until it is done.
It isn’t the same as a compulsion to put thoughts down, to tell stories, to express in writing.
IT is helpful to kick the shit out of writer’s block and make yourself put words down. It proves that you can write no matter how you feel. It is proof that your creativity isn’t based on your feelings. It is something you can conjure up at will. Yes, there are mental blocks that come out of fear, and tension, but those can be overcome with self talk and willpower.
Creating or consuming fiction is a work of imagination. It is a suspension of our reality and the entering another dimension. The added benefit is a reprieve from this world.
The more people who read and share a work of fiction- the more it lives. The more it lives, the more we use it to make references in real life. The more it interacts with culture and creates new memes.
Anyway, fiction work is hard work- it takes effort and thoughtfulness. It can fall apart or take flight. No matter what it is worth the effort.
Later Gator 🐊
Nino
Nino Olson 