I’ve been told I have an abstract mind. I think I’ve always known that. My brain simply does not work like most
people’s minds; I do not think in straight lines. I can get from point A to point B just as
well as anyone, but my brain takes the scenic route to get there. I cannot
think logically to save my life and in fact I do believe that I would drive Mr.
Spock to drink. On the up side however,
having an abstract mind is a solid foundation for creativity – and I have an
incredible imagination.
It can be difficult when you have a creative and abstract
mind. Fleeting thoughts and ideas seem to race through it randomly at an
alarming rate, making it difficult to hang on to them for even the briefest
moments. But once in a while I am able
to at least slow them down and let them twist around my brain long enough to
develop those thoughts into writings, ideas, poems or projects.
I love to write, and usually all it takes is one thought,
one fleeting idea, to develop into a story, poem, or article that absorbs much
of my time. The research takes up a
great portion of it, and is my favorite part.
I love learning everything I can about something and as I do, more ideas
begin to form, which makes me want to know more. It’s a vicious cycle and I love it! And of course, like most writers, once I get
something written it has to be edited over and over again. I’ve been told that a good writer never
believes their work is finished, and if that’s all it takes then I’m proud to
be counted among some of my favorite authors.
Not that I write novels, and if I did I could never consider myself even
remotely as good as they are, but it’s good company to be (very loosely) associated
with.
I find that when I “hit” on an idea I just have to write
about it. More often than not I have no
idea what I’m going to write until I begin typing, and then the story seems to
take on a life of its own. It’s as if the story writes itself and all I am is a
vessel to do the typing. It’s those
stories that make me want to just keep typing – to not stop for hours, or even
days, but just to keep typing and at those times I just can’t seem to pull
myself away from it.
A couple of years ago I went online to find some websites
for writers. Nothing too serious, just
another outlet for new ideas and maybe a few challenges. One of the sites I found had an “assignment”
to write one page about a job you had as a teenager.
When I was 14 I went to live and work on a cattle ranch,
which I did until I was 20. At first I
could not believe they were actually going to pay me to ride my horse all day –
and then reality set in – this was hard
work! But I loved it, and so my “one”
page story would be easy – or so I thought.
My single page suddenly morphed into a mostly fictional story, with the
main character very loosely based on myself, and other characters based on
people I’ve known (names were changed), and characters from my favorite TV
shows and movies. I guess this is what
they talk about by taking creative license.
That one page story is now 417 pages long. Will I ever publish it? That’s not my plan but you never know; someday
when it’s finally “finished” I may change my mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment