THE WRITER'S MIND
My mother asked me the other day how I find things to write about for my blog. My knee-jerk response to this question was, "trust me, it is not easy." But the more I have thought about it, the more I realized that my answer was not necessarily true. These days it is not as much not having things to write about, but finding the time in between making sure the King does not empty out our bedroom drawers of all their contents, or trying to negotiate with him over mealtimes. Of late, he’s decided he’s on a hunger strike – his cause I’m not sure, but something tells me that he is striking in honor of the charity of ‘will,’ as in, I WILL do what I want.
As far as writing goes, the great thing about this world is that every day no fail there are a plethora of crazy, unbelievable, outrageous and mind bending stories that fill our media airwaves – and that’s just in the political arena (I wish I were joking). Visit any news website and half the stories will dazzle you in their preposterousness, not to mention confirm that the common man/woman is a complex and often frightening creature. In short, for a writer, the crazier our world gets, the more there is to write about. Not that I’m hoping we continue on this trajectory of course, but you get the idea.
In my experience, having a writer’s mind puts you somewhere between schizophrenia (between the voices, the characters and the inner dialogue that always seems to be running in one's head; don't be alarmed, I don't have a giant rabbit in my head telling me to hurt the neighbor or anything) and whatever disease results in your synapses firing on full, sponge-like tilt. And I wonder why I am an insomniac.
Don’t get me wrong, sometimes if I’m tired enough, my brain slows down and about all I can muster is vegetating in front of an episode of (insert country)’s Next Top Model (I’m not proud of this addiction, but I'm able to admit it, okay). But on the fun days, as soon as I step outside the house, everything and everyone is fair game for material. From the mundane to the downright surreal, the world simply offers up stuff to write about; be it the eccentric folks in line at the bank (everyone has a story, and if they don’t, a good writer can certainly make one up), the latest story on the front page of the newspaper, or the hysterical or maddening things the King does in a given day - watching a human develop before your very eyes is a pretty surreal experience.
So you see, it’s out there; writers are simply on red alert for it. Try it one day, just go about your business and open your eyes and ears a bit wider; you’ll be amazed at how much is going on around you and would be fodder for the most amazing tale on the human condition. Then again, ignorance is not only bliss, but it’s a lot more conducive to a good night’s sleep.