As a Writer, Are You Crazy?

You know you’ve always been a bit different.  But then normal is highly overrated, right?  You’ve been a writer since the beginning of time.  Even before you could write, you were a writer, bursting with stories you’d tell your dolls, stuffed animals, action figures, or the air, just to get them out there.

You’ve questioned yourself over the years as to what has made you a writer.  You’ve questioned yourself if you really wanted to be a writer.  Did you choose it?  Or did it choose you?  You don’t know who you are without writing.

Are you a writer, because you have a tortured soul?  Do you have so many voices talking inside your head that you just have to get them out before you lose your mind?  Or were you already crazy?  Does being a writer make you crazy or were you crazy all along?

These are just the top 10 reasons (out of maybe 100) why, as a writer, I think you (and I) might be crazy.

1.  You have a dream.  Or maybe more of a dark and colorful, exhilarating, brilliant nightmare.  Oh, you thought I meant a dream of being a writer?  No, I mean, in the literal sense.  You have this dream and you have to get up immediately to write out the voices and movie playing inside your head.

2.  Movies that you’ve never seen play inside your head.

3.  You get up at 2am to write.  Yes.  I said two o’clock.  After having said dream, your heart is beating fast, and no matter how much you would love to go back to sleep, you’re wide awake and have to get up right then and write.  Sometimes you’re happy to skip the sleep and are just oh so eager to jump up and write it all down.

4.  You hear voices.  You listen to the voices.  You have to write everything down immediately that the voices are saying.  Sometimes they are talking to you, screaming at you to write their story, and other times the voices are conversing with other voices.

5.  You talk to the voices.  And sometimes the voices talk back.

6. You talk to yourself.  You question yourself.  You answer yourself.  You have long drawn out conversations.  With.  Your.  Self.  And sometimes, you laugh at/with yourself.  Could this be schizophrenia?

7.  You talk to ghosts.  You have (or think you have) conversations with J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis and H. G. Wells.  Could this be delirium?

8.  You channel spirits.  Or you think you have after having said dream that’s something remarkably similar to something out of Tolkien.

9.  You write 4 books simultaneously.  You are working on Book 1 and 2 of a fantasy/sci-fi series, a work of non-fiction, and this dream you just had is the new Book 1 of the series you thought you were writing, as a twist just occurred that gives it a whole ‘nother back story, sort of like The Hobbit before Lord of the Rings.  What particular manuscript you may be working on in any given 30 minutes or 2 hours is whatever the muse/inspiration/voices tells you to work on.

10.  You are silent.  If the voices aren’t talking, neither are you.  You’re depressed.  You’re lonely.  You miss the voices.  Call this writer’s block.  Call this laziness.  Call this depression.  You wait around for the voices to return as if you’re some high school chick with a silly crush waiting by the phone for that cute guy to call you.  He said he’d call.  And you wait.  And you wait.  And wait.

So, I ask you, being a writer, are you crazy?  Or is it just me?

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

Have you been spying on me? Hiding behind the door or under my bed, perhaps? I have to say you got almost everything right. Most of my creative energies went toward art until about ten years ago, when I began trying my hand at short stories. When I mentioned it to my sister-in-law, she said she wasn't surprised because she'd always known I was a story-teller. I said, "Really?" It was news to me.

[Carol Blake]

Yup, you found me out. I guess I can stop hiding now. ;) I thought I responded to this but don't see it here so I guess it's my senility playing tricks on me again. If you are an artist, you are most assuredly a story teller. All art shares a story. I'd love to see some of your art. I need to catch up on my reading of everyone's stories, as well. :) Have an amazing day, my friend.

[Rich13White]

This made the beginning of day thank you...and spot on...

[Carol Blake]

Glad you enjoyed! You're great at making me smile. :) Hope you have a wonderful Friday Eve!

[Roland]

It is us! I keep getting "page 1", 1st chapter ideas. My challenge is to expand into a story. I also enjoy putting a "story" to a picture. It is my "game".

[Carol Blake]

LOL! I may have to take more time with these items and expand. However, if it inspires you, write your story. I like the putting the "story" to a picture, as well. Fun game. :)

[Roland]

Maybe we should take a picture from time to time and compare our anecdote / annotation. We could even start a group to do this .... thinking out of the box.

[Carol Blake]

This sounds like a fun and interesting challenge. You're on.