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Friday, June 10, 2011

Are Writers Crazy??

By crazy I mean, do writers think on a whole different level than non-writers? I think absolutely! Who doesn’t evesdrop on conversations thinking it would make great material for their next book? Maybe a friend comes to you with a problem and instead of offering advice or a solution, you think about how you could use that in your book too. I think our minds are wired differently. We see things from a different perspective and sometimes it’s only other writers who can truly appreciate this.

An example. Last night me and the hubs went through the drive thru. The car in front of us, at the ordering menu opened up his car door. Without thinking and just observing, what is your immediate thought?

Me: Oh look, that guys is gonna rip off the menu or something.

Hubs: What are you talking about?

Me: I don’t know. He’s suspiciously doing something. Just wait for it.

Meanwhile, my mind is running through all these possible scenarios, some unrealistic, but I’m totally watching this guy with his car door wide open. I’m waiting for him to pounce. To do SOMETHING. Because I know there must be a movtive. Why else would he be doing this?

Hubs: Yeah, wait for it. He’s ordering.

Me: Ordering? What do you mean? Just watch. Something is about to happen. I KNOW it.

Hubs: The only thing that’s happening is he’s ordering his food.

Me: Ya, right. With his car door wide open?

Hubs: (rolls eyes) His window is broke. It doesn’t roll down.

Me: Oh.

But in my mind, I had a whole story figured out for this guy. And the fast food menu. And maybe he had vengeance for one of the workers inside. But the boring reality of it was he was hungry, his window was broke.

Imagine the kind of world we would live in if everyone had boring brains. We need writers with overactive imaginations and dramatic thinking skills. So tell me, who’s with me? Who’s crazy too?
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8 comments:

  1. S.A. Larsenッ6/10/11, 11:02 AM

    This is too funny. You are not crazy. Just a writer who can't turn off the brain. Totally there....

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  2. Hilary Wagner6/10/11, 11:06 AM

    Ha! I absolutely do the same thing, Rose! My husband thinks I'm bonkers too! I think when you really love something, writing stories in this case, you're ALWAYS thinking about it. It seems, no matter what the situation, I'm always thinking about whatever novel I'm working on. My poor husband says I "yes" him to death, because he knows I'm not listening to a word he's saying... :)

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  3. Marissa Burt6/10/11, 11:36 AM

    Ha! I definitely feel this when Bad Scenarios flash into my mind. You know how you're always trying to up the stakes for your characters? It sort of follows that Interesting and Bad Things must happen in real life, too. So someone goes to the grocery store? Five scenarios of tragedy/challenge play out in my mind.

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  4. Kristen6/10/11, 11:46 AM

    YES! My stepdaughter and I both write, so while we drive around to do errands we have a game of making up stories about basically everyone we see .If we can loop more than one person in a given area into the same story it's extra points :-)

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  5. Allan Woodrow6/10/11, 1:30 PM

    I think you should have followed Open Door Car Guy a few blocks just to make sure all was safe. Sounds very suspicious to me.

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  6. Anne Gallagher6/11/11, 7:16 AM

    You're not crazy. I do the same thing. Always making up stories in my head. You should have seen me at the mall yesterday with all the crazy characters strolling around.

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  7. Steven W6/11/11, 10:18 AM

    HA! I've done very similar things, though I've now learned to keep my thoughts to myself for fear that my wife might force me into a long sleeved white jacket with a lot of buckles.

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  8. Dawn Lairamore6/12/11, 11:19 AM

    In a word--yes! Writers are absolutely nuts :)

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Thanks for adding to the mayhem!