Accidental Genius

I would have to say that of all the genius I've had, most of it was accidental. What I mean is that, although I try to plan things as perfectly as I can, the best things just seem to happen.

When I write a story, I can only plan so much in my head. A lot of development happens as I'm writing. Because of that, I always risk writing myself into a corner. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes, I realize that because of the particular course of events, the conclusion naturally and logically will happen. I love it when that happens, when I am able to make my characters do what I want them to. All too often, they have to do something different because they're their own people.

Accidental genius can apply to anything that involves thinking. It can be a complex series of events in an epic story or it can be as mundane as planning your day. Maybe you realized that because you have to do laundry, you can spend that same time getting bills paid, killing two birds with one stone.

Genius, by this definition, can only occur when you plan out everything perfectly and all goes according to plan. Accidental genius happens when you start making arbitrary decisions, but everything still manages to work out perfectly.

I think the reason that so much of my genius is accidental is that most of life is unplannable. We have to make guesses, take chances, go with our gut, and hope that everything works out right. When things couldn't have gone any better, it's because we made a genius plan, even if it was by accident. As far as I'm concerned, genius is genius. When it happens, live it up.