Sunday, July 15, 2012

A Writer's World

On Friday night, my friends and I were watching “Life as we Know It”. We were trying to figure out which one of us would be the girl who dies, and which one would be the best friend who inherits the child. “The stork of death will bring you your baby”, commented my friend Maria, who also happens to be a teen writer. My friends all laughed, but I turned and said, “The stork of death. That would make an interesting story idea.” 

The stork of death, who has taken up residence inside my crazy mind sometime in the last 48 hours, is just one example of how writing has changed my perspective on life.

I’m not sure if this is true for most writers or just me, but writing has helped me improve my interpretation of individuals. Out of a single conversation with someone, I can usually get a pretty accurate observation of who they are. There’s a trick to reading people. I can usually tell if they’re being a genuine person, or if there’s something more to them, a different side that they don’t let people see. It’s fascinating how much more you can learn about people who you’ve known your entire life if you just pay attention to the little subtleties that clue you in to their world.  

I’m pretty sure that working on character building has improved this the most. The idea that each person you talk to--your brother, your best friend, that boy who always chews his gum too loud in math class, the girl who always watches your dance practice for fifteen minutes on Mondays, all of them--are just as complex, complete characters as you are. When you drive to church on Sundays, every single person you pass on the highway is going somewhere, is coming from somewhere, has a family, a job, a life story as long and detailed as your own. It makes your mind spin if you think about it too long. 

Before I wrap up this post, I’d also like to mention that I think in descriptions. I LOVE descriptions. My friends are about ready to start calling me “hyperbole girl.” (See what I did there?) But truly, I always come up with stray similes and metaphors at random times. Most of them are bland, but occasionally I’ll come across a really good one. For example, yesterday I got a pedicure with my mom. When I looked down at my pale blue toes decked with little white flowers, all I could think of were daisy-chain crowns. From floral wreaths to the stork of death, my world is definitely a little bizarre, but it’s a writer’s world and I love it. 
~~~~~

If you want to follow the blog chain (even though I’m almost at the end,) here’s a list of where to go for each day’s post:

July 7–http://miriamjoywrites.wordpress.com–Miriam Joy Writes

July 8–http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com–Musings From Neville’s Navel
July 9–http://insideliamsbrain.wordpress.com–This Page Intentionally Left Blank
July 10–http://maybeteenauthor.blogspot.com–Blog of a (Maybe) Teen Author
July 11–http://scribblingbeyondthemargins.wordpress.com–Scribbling Beyond the Margins
July 12–http://lilyjenness.blogspot.com–Lily’s Notes In The Margins
July 13–http://correctingpenswelcome.wordpress.com–Comfy Sweaters, Writing and Fish
July 14–http://laughablog.wordpress.com–The Zebra Clan
July 15–http://realityisimaginary.blogspot.com–Reality Is Imaginary
July 16–http://a-myriad-of-colors.blogspot.com–A Myriad of Colors
July 17–http://anmksmeanderingmind.wordpress.com–An MK’s Meandering Mind
July 18–http://incessantdroningofaboredwriter.wordpress.com–The Incessant Droning of a Bored Writer
July 19–http://allegradavis.wordpress.com–All I Need Is A Keyboard
July 20–http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com--Teens Can Write Too! (We will be announcing the topic for next month’s chain)
I hope everyone is having a great summer! I'm off to eat some lunch--I wouldn't let myself take a break from my blog post.
As always, I would really, really appreciate it if you would take the time to help me improve as a writer.
Thanks!
~Jane

5 comments:

  1. Nice post! It does indeed make one's mind spin to think that every one of the 7 billion+ people on earth has a story as complex as my own!

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  2. Great post!

    I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who comes up with random similes and metaphors!

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  3. I know what you mean about thinking of how everyone you see has their own life and their own story. It's kind of overwhelming! I often meet or learn about a person, and think they'd make a great character... but the hard part is building the rest of the story around them! My characters tend to live for a few chapters and then just fizzle out. :(

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  4. It's posts like these that make me realize just how alike teen writers can be. Seriously, I tend to think "Oh, that must just be me." and then I talk to another writer and instead of a 'me thing,' it's a 'writer thing.' Which makes me feel like a cool, in-the-loop writer and a less original person all at the same time...

    Anyway, I actually dropped over to your blog because I saw your CP profile at TCWT and thought we might be a good fit. You can see my profile here: http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/teen-writer-critique-partner-match-up/#comment-1291 If you want to swap pages to see if we work well together, just email me. :)

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