I sit at night in front of the computer, from 10 at night to 4:30 in the morning as I try to tap into the stream of unconscious around me. The river of dreams that surround me, yet rush by untouched. I guess it is my attempt to reach in and drink from that creative life giving water. I feel there is a stillness during this time.
Even if I am out at a club with friends I find this peace within the constant beat of the DJs set, and a whisper of melody can send me to that place of dreams.
I was always “connected” you could say. As a child in Grades 1 to 4 I was often caught daydreaming in class. This attachment to the dream world has remained strong for me. Now as a writer there is a catharsis for me and a wonderful sensation making dreams physical. Giving birth in the quite hours of the morning. No planing, simply tapping in and letting the river flow from dream to written word.
The idea of storytelling appeals to me for a couple of reasons. One of the most interesting is how we being humankind are the only species on the planet that use various methods of storytelling whether written or drawn or told through song and dance or spoken word to describe past and future events. However for me the stories of fictitious events and how they evolved from explaining the unknown to us to entertainment is what really fascinates me.
It is who we are, where we come from and where we are going. The medium changes but the objective does not. From campfires and cave walls to movies and podcasts the stories we tell connect us in a way that to me is perhaps the original magic of the old world.
My favorite activity as a writer I think has got to be free writing. Where you simply write for 5 or 10 minutes nonstop. No editing, no stopping. It is a great way to work through writers block, or learn something new about a character, or my favorite is finding a new story. I tend to have a few projects that were developed from free writing exercises.
I think for myself that writing poetry or in prose is the hardest challenge for me. I sometimes am able to write poems but I am far more comfortable writing stories or screenplays. I think even plays would be easier than poetry. I admire people who have a talent for it. To capture a picture with a select set of words in a certain order. I find my voice tends to be more action and character driven. I don’t think I have the vocabulary required to be a really good poetry writer. Maybe though one of these nights I will find the words.
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