A friend of mine mentioned today that she had read my most recent blog post and facetiously wondered how I got the idea for it. We had a conversation the night before about storytelling and covered the idea of a world within the mind or an alternate world which interacted with our world. This conversation was rewarding and gave me some good thoughts to ponder for my own projects.
So I told her the truth: I had a cool thought on Saturday and, although it was compelling, I could not help but wonder how to turn it into a story.
She was less than amused. But that was the reality. I generally write about principles and concepts. By painting with such broad strokes, what I talk about can apply to a lot of people. But that's the point.
I need to be speaking to you. I need to be talking about things that happened to you yesterday, even if you are one of the people who I have never met or spoken with.
And if you are one of the people that I speak with regularly, trust that I am not talking about you. I don't talk about people behind their backs. If I have spoken about a particular person, I will either give them a heads up, or mention it in our next conversation.
This goes along with my advice not to look too deeply. It is fairly common for people I know to assume I'm talking about them in my writing. While sometimes they may inspire certain thoughts, my writing will never be a veiled message to people I know.
However, I am not insulted or offended when this happens. I find it to be a compliment. It means I did my job. I reached out and touched you. I made a strong connection. And every time my writing does this, I have succeeded.
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