So... meeting that guy got me thinking. Yes ladies and gents. The fates has thrown us together twice more since his last mention. Talk about twisted humor.
Well... he got me thinking a lot. In fact, that's yet another thought added to the others that's nudging me a few steps closer to insanity.
However, since I'm a (pretty much) grown woman, I'm going to forgo crying on your shoulders about him.
Let me just say that I'm more than a little irritated with myself. See, I know that going near him will be a very bad idea, but the more I realize this, the more I feel the pull to stop worrying about it and just go get him. But really. Given who I am and where I want to be going, it's a reaallly bad idea. Still...
See? Pa-freaking-thetic.
I'm a rational person. Hell, I'm pretty sure I could rationalize murder if I wanted to give it a shot. But I've been brought down hard by a pair of beautiful and sad brown eyes. Sigh.
There is one good thing to all this though. What I'm going through is very close to something that one of my characters has to go through. You see, he knows from the beginning that he's incredibly attracted to someone, but instead sees this a threat to his carefully laid plans. So this whole internal struggle must be roiling within him too. Especially because he hasn't a hope of avoiding her.
All in all good stuff. I just hope I can write it well so that it doesn't feel like he's moping all the time. Because he so isn't a moper.
Therefore, looking at the bright side, I can get a non-moper's perspective on the I-can't-have-him/her blues. Sadly, it isn't really much of a compensation. But it's something that should pay off in the long run.
Talk about suffering for your art. ;-P
Do you also use bad experiences when you write? How? Do you copy scenarios or do you only try to remember the emotions and replicate them? Either way, do tell...
I copy things from my own life. In my first book, the bad thing that happens isn't something that's happened to me, but the MC's reaction to it is something I do. Everyone who's read it, loved that scene and thought it was incredibly powerful. With the book I just finished, I copied bad stuff that happened to me, but gave the character different reactions. Either way ... life is a big inspiration ... so your situation could definitely make the MC's situation seem more real.
ReplyDeleteI try to remember my own experiences and put them into my book as much as possible--having actually lived through something makes writing it somewhat easier, or possibly at least a little more realistic.
ReplyDeleteI use pretty much all my experiences in my writing, good and bad. If I get upset about something, you can be pretty sure one of my characters will feel much the same way shortly afterwards. Not sure if it’s therapy or sadism ;)
ReplyDeleteThe enigmatic, masked blogger strikes again
Quinn, I do that too - writing an experience similar to mine, but with the character reacting differently. I tend to do it to investigate what might have happened if I had handled the situation differently...
ReplyDeleteI agree Golden, I think that emotions can be described much better if you already know how something feels. It still gets complicated when, for example, the character kills another one for the first time. How on this earth can one start to describe that?
Blogger. Sadism. Pure sadism. ;-P
I had to laugh...take this scenario you gave, add a life altering event that threatens the career you have planned for yourself since childhood and are only a few months away from realizing. Then throw in an alternate world. Add a twist, it's medieval and you're a modern woman. Next, give your heroine a fabulous guy that she can't resist and thinks she must for most of the story. There you have it. That is only one of the tension grabbers of my epic fantasy.
ReplyDeleteNancy
N. R Williams, fantasy author
i don't think i consciously copy things from my real life, but who know where i drag stuff up from.
ReplyDeleteI don't write , but I had always assumed that writers do take a lot of things from real life.
ReplyDeleteBtw, the main reason I came here was to thank you for stopping by my blog. Its totally incredible to meet another person with the same name from another country!!
Ugh, I can't tell you how many of my "bad experiences" subconciously or consciously make it into my stories. I guess it's a form of catharsis for me.
ReplyDeleteAlex
Breakfast Every Hour
Haha Nancy. That's the great thing about writing. I can make it so much worse for my poor character than it is for me. That way, I feel a lot better about my own situation. Because heaven knows that I don't have to deal with a puppet master wanting to destroy everything I hold dear... ;-)
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting Falen. I would love to hear how you approach your writing...
Misha (lol I'm so not used to this) thanks for dropping by. :-)
Alex, that's a good point you're making. I think more than a few of us write in every day experiences (good or bad) in order for us to deal with them. Half the time I don't even realize when I do it, but I know that I do...
Thanks all for commenting!
I'll use my own experiences, good and bad, to explore emotional state of mind for what my characters are going through.
ReplyDeleteHi:) V.R Barkowski directed me your way!
ReplyDeleteOf course art does great things with sadness and stuff like that. There's a reason we think of poor, starving writers! We couldn't be rich and happy, because that wouldn't produce anything good:)
I take emotions that i feel and take the metaphorical and put it in a piece in a literal sence, so for example i can take the feeling that i want to run away from somthing or some one, thats just what my main character will do, the senario may be slighty different but the emotins felt are the same.
ReplyDeletePoor you -- you'll have to go with your gut instincts, rather like the character. What doesn't kill you will give you something to write about? I take everything and reverse it more often than not. I use real feelings, and create events.
ReplyDeleteI use all of the hard times I've been through and definitely portray them in my writing. They may not be word for word what I've struggled for but that emotion stays close... very close.
ReplyDeleteJ.K. Rowling used her mothers death and spilled over every other page in Harry Potter. It was something she struggled with and she made death a main premise in her novels, but only to express you can get past it and become stronger when you find others to love.
I'm with Elaine, what doesn't kill you makes something great to write about!
Paul that's a really good way to use it. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Alexandra, thanks for the follow! Lol what you're saying is so true. I've never thought about that before.
Serena I love that you do that. It sounds like a wonderful way to get inspiration for a story. I'm so going to give it a shot.
Elaine I would go with my gut instincts - except that my gut is incredibly confused. ;-P I completely agree with the what doesn't kill you idea. This is definitely going to pay off in spades in my writing.
Jen, I tend to write the same way as you, but I sometimes find it draining. Do you get that too?
Thank you all for commenting!