Sunday, February 5, 2012

Daydreamer

I've been daydreaming a lot lately.

I've always made up my own stories in my head. My first ever published novel came about that way. I had picked up a book that read like one of my own daydreams and thought, "blimey, I could actually write down one of my stories and someone else might want to read it...."

Blimey, they did.

When, like Julie (see below), picking something from the To Be Read pile seems daunting or unsatisfying, I will genuinely make up stories of my own as an alternative to reading them. The characters are fully-fleshed and well motivated, their dialogue comes easy. I go over and over a scene in my head, experiencing the mood and emotion, feeling my way around where the most captivating parts are, wondering where to go next.

I have taught myself NOT to mutter the dialogue out loud. This is sometimes interpreted as something less socially acceptable than a good imagination....

I'm not fussy about genre. Sometimes they're what you might call fan-fiction, taking a character or scenario from TV or film or PC game* and playing with that. Sometimes they're sci-fi or historical, thriller or romance. Occasionally I take a starring role, most of the time I'm building new characters.

When I'm not writing, life isn't quite right, but it's fixable. When I'm not daydreaming, either, life is in a bad way.

I've been daydreaming a lot lately. It's rather nice.

Are you a daydreamer?

*I always feel like I ought to be embarassed about this. But I'm just not. Skyrim** utterly rocks, so there.
** Ha! Now we have a Skyrim post label. I am content.

4 comments:

  1. I am a total day dreamer and always have been...I think my family would be frightened if they knew how much...And like you anything can trigger it. it's such fun and I'm so pleased I'm not alone!
    lx

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  2. I daydream all the time. It's a wonderful escape when the real world isn't much fun but also a magic kingdom with a wonderful landscape to explore. I 'write' far more often in my head than I do on paper or laptop. Dream on, I say!

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  3. Yes, me too! Daydreams are the best because you can do things like get your own back on bullies and rewrite the endings of books or films that weren't satisfying enough. And as Charlotte said, escape from the real world - it's wonderful!

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  4. LOL! I always do the ending rewrite thing, Christina!!!

    Yes, me too, Charlotte - if only I had a daydream recorder....

    Yeah, I'm glad to know I'm not alone, too, Liz. :)

    Anna

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