Writing: Let Your Imagination be Your Guide

“If there’s a story you really want to read, then you must write it.” I couldn’t agree more with this quote by Toni Morrison. This quote inspires me to spill my guts onto the white page just to watch the colors change. And why not? So many times I have felt the white-hot urgency of words bubbling beneath the surface of my skin, waiting to erupt. There are so many things to say, and sometimes, nothing at all, yet I continue to write.

I can be inspired by the tiniest detail or happening. Circumstances that may seem inconsequential to others are stories waiting to be told. Like many obsessive writers, I also talk to myself. I play out scenes in my head, create character dialogue and let fantasies reveal themselves through the spoken word. Of course, I’m completely alone when I do this and if not, I whisper. Many of these “conversations” with myself lead to stories that must be committed to writing so that I can expound on them later or at the very least, revisit them from time to time. This process reminds me of another quote by E.L. Docktorow, “Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.” It makes me laugh because when I’m talking aloud to myself, in character, while putting on my makeup or fixing my hair, I feel like a complete schizophrenic. It is quite simply, that I cannot control my creative impulses, so I let them control me instead.

I have often read stories and thought to myself, “I could have written that.” I marvel at the simplicity of ideas and the ability of authors to get published. Not because their work isn’t worthy, but because the plots so often seem as if I could have written them. The magic for these authors is that they didn’t merely “think” their stories, or talk to themselves. They actually committed their creative output to paper and therein lies their literary power. This brings me back to Ms. Morrison’s quote. “If there’s a story that you really want to read, then you must write it.” Write it for yourself. Do not be overly concerned with glossy book covers, advances and royalties. Do not think about whether your book has the mass appeal to be made into a movie. Just write for the sheer joy of writing. Let the animal in your head loose and see what transpires.