Friday, January 27, 2006

Inside The Writer's Twisted Imagination


INSIDE THE WRITER’S TWISTED IMAGINATION

If you are a reader without any writing inclinations, you may wonder how an author takes the fruit of first ideas and turns it into a full-fledged novel. I’m as guilty as the next reader, wanting to know what my favorite authors do, wanting to understand the process that brings their exciting tomes to life. Two authors I admire are Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Reading interviews and articles about them is fascinating, and I was inspired beyond expectation by King’s book ON WRITING. When I realized that my processes, my way of thinking, and what can inspire me is often the same thing that motivates these men, I felt a kinship. My imagination can be as twisted and impatient as theirs can, and this is gratifying.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had people ask me, “Where do you get ideas for your books?” I also can’t tell you how many times I haven’t given a coherent answer. I should be able to explain how I get from slot A to tab B. Ah, perhaps not. Explaining a writer’s imagination is complicated because most writers are complex people with a rich fantasy world. In grade school, we doodled too much and daydreamed too much. We created elaborate universes only we could see, and we often had imaginary friends. Many times, we saw the forest and the trees at the same time, and yet could only explain the forest and not the trees. Sometimes we could give you the answer to a math problem, but we couldn’t tell you how we arrived at the correct answer. Writing is a right brain and left brain activity combined. So when many writers are asked how we come up with our ideas, we often stare at the questioner as if they’ve lost their mind. There is simply no easy way to explain it, for most of us.

There are two types of writers when it comes to creating stories, those that outline and those that don’t do much, if any. I fall in to the “don’t do much if any” category. Recently I had to write a synopsis and it almost turned me into a babbling idiot. I rewrote it nine times before it came together properly. Condensing a hundred thousand word manuscript into nine pages coherently isn’t my forte. My thought processes can be chaotic, and because I don’t outline my novels for the most part, I create by virtue of “what comes next” without a flow chart. For many logically oriented, left brained individuals, the idea of creating on a high wire with no rope is foolhardy. Yet it works for me and many other writers.

So where do I come up with those ideas? Out of nowhere. Some authors will say the ideas come from something they saw on television or read in the papers. For me it is more a notion that jumps out from a clear blue sky. Two weeks ago, I remembered my trip to the tunnels under the South Bridge in Edinburgh, and that creepy experience in the tunnels gave me an idea. I wanted to write a story revolving around catacombs. That book is now a work in progress.

I wrote LOVE FROM THE ASHES because I’d wanted to write a story for years set during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. I wrote MIDNIGHT ROSE because of my lifelong interest in the Jack the Ripper case. My ideas can come from anywhere, day or night, and logic has nothing whatsoever to do with how I formulate the idea.

One other thing I’d like to say about imagination. Sometimes writers forget that our imaginations are extremely potent and above average. Our imaginations prove that everything that can happen, can be thought of first. A tragedy happens and reporters say, “No one ever could have imagined this horrible tragedy.” I shake my head, because I know it’s not true. I find that most writers have the same reaction as I do. Few things surprise us when it comes to tragedy whether created by man or nature. Writers are in the business of envisioning possibilities, and that includes the very worst and best things in life, even those most terrible or “unthinkable.”

As a writer, I used my imagination and trekked into jungles I designed in my own head, been to 1906 San Francisco during the earthquake, been through a tornado, a warehouse fire, a building collapse, tangled with supernatural forces, and escaped from a serial killer. Believe me, writers have thought of it and they will continue to think of it. Nothing is beyond imagination. What makes the best writer? Those who can open a vein, spill emotion, and imagine every scenario. This is why writing is often exhausting work. A good piece of writing can reflect the deepest lows and the highest highs. Excellent writing shows dedication to authenticity, to finding the unique in things everyday, and the ordinary in the extraordinary.

I’ve run into plenty of people who’ve asked me how I come up with such heinous villains. Simple, really. The best villains I’ve written are my versions of Jack the Ripper in MIDNIGHT ROSE, the serial killer in TREACHEROUS WISHES, and the crazed Fort Leavenworth prisoner in SINS AND SECRETS. While I like the “bad guys” in DANGEROUS INTENTIONS and COMBUSTION quite a bit, I think I found a particular stride with Jack, the villain in TREACHEROUS WISHES, and the insane fellow in SINS AND SECRETS. Why? Because I was willing to let it all hang out and not be afraid of what people might say or think that little ole Denise could create monsters like these. And as Gavin De Becker says in the fascinating book, THE GIFT OF FEAR, criminals, even the most odious, are not as different from the rest of us as we might think.

I’ve given you only a tiny peek into a writer’s twisted imagination. I hope you enjoyed the journey.

Denise A. Agnew
www.deniseagnew.com

Posted by Denise A. Agnew :: Link :: 11:45 PM :: 8 Comments

---------------------------------------