Author Thoughts Today – Why Fight It – 081825
I learned a new word this weekend – Eremitism – The act of gradually fading from the lives of others, not out of malice but a desire for solitude or peace. I get that, and I appreciate the need for it sometimes. Now that I’m unsupervised, I feel this gradual fading and fear it feeds selfishness because it requires a choice to fade or not. As a free-range writer of things, I immerse myself in a project and willingly disappear into a story with no thought of when or if I will resurface to fade back in. I would not want to live with me, but the cats don’t seem to mind, so…why fight it?
The current project, “Undaunted,” is eleven chapters deep and at a standstill as I’ve come up for air to consider a fork in the storyline. Yes, there are chances to take different paths that potentially change the story, and sometimes not until much later when another crossroads or a fork surfaces. In all honesty, I don’t write stories; I survive them.
And here y’all thought I had storylines in my head ready to go. Not so much. Not that smart.
When inspiration or a solid idea comes, I blame it on (or give credit to) my Relentless Wench Muse (RWM), who manages to remain just out of reach. We have a point-counterpoint relationship where She blesses me with an idea and expects me to write it down. Sometimes I do without question, and other times, I choose to argue a point with Her. Often, I find pushing back is futile because she is correct more often than she is misguided, and she does not hesitate to make that point. So why fight it?
It’s okay, She is only a voice in my head, which reveals my level of crazy, but hey, it’s my crazy, and the cats don’t seem to mind. My imagination created the voice of RWM, who shall remain nameless, and my mind’s eye sees Her as a red-headed Aussie with crazy chopped hair and a generous sprinkling of freckles. Love it when She admonishes me and calls me Mate with that killer accent I’ll never tire of hearing. We have a relationship that transcends a fictitious voice in my head and has influenced the character of AIMEE from the Dreamscape Conspiracy Series, the AI that has no physical body, only a network domain defining the limits of her world as a software application.
Does RWM influence me? I’m not sure I could prove or disprove Her influence, but if the story is engaging…Why fight it?
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Author Thoughts are posted on my Facebook Author Page, Learning by Living, and my Substack site.
Peace! G.