Writing fiction requires two things: The willingness to inhabit two worlds, and the ability to slide between them with ease.
—Jann Alexander
What a gift it is, to write fiction.
To keep alive in your mind a jumble of ideas about characters, their feelings, their motivations, their actions . . . and to be able to summon that up at will.
Stuck in a boring situation? Pay it no mind; spend time with your characters instead, who are infinitely more interesting. After all, you’re creating them. You can imagine them behaving in many ways, for many reasons, and lose yourself in their embrace. See how the time flies?
Can’t fall asleep at night? Don’t count sheep; think about your characters, how pleased you are for them, the ones who leapt past life’s hurdles and gained something of worth along the way.
Find yourself in uncharted territory with unexpected company? Accept it, and take it all in, the better to shore up your characters’ traits. Get inspired by where you are, what you’re hearing, to better inform your characters’ world.
But be prepared to be summoned back to your life’s reality, your reality, at a moment’s notice, by a child who trips and gashes his forehead, or a birthday gift that arrives from an old friend, or a phone call from a distant relative about a death in the family, or a surprise bouquet of flowers your husband brings home. Suspend your time with your characters, resume your life in the moment, and embrace it.
Above all, embrace your dual gifts: you can inhabit two worlds, and you can slide between them with ease. It’s just what writers do.
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