When the Creative Process Takes a Sharp Left Turn

I’m going to talk about something a little insane. To some writers this isn’t insanity.  Instead it’s quite normal and at times expected.  So there will be those of you who will be taken a back to this.  My characters talk to me in my head. (Singing: “These are the voices…the voices in my head.”)

            This kind of problem goes into the lines of “The Devil finds Work for Idle Hands.”  So when my mind wanders they tend to pop in unannounced and proceed to spark a conversation with me.  Sometimes I would find myself imagining conversations between characters.  This would get weird because sometimes a dead character is there or they aren’t part of the same universe.

            I’ve also had characters from role playing games join in and had friends who would do the same thing with theirs.

            Daemon is the most dominant of the characters, obviously, as he is basically my alter ego.  These conversations have been turning pretty unfriendly as of late.  It usually ends up like this:

 

DAEMON:

(Sighs) Reading another book?

ME:

Uh…yeah.  That’s what this is in my hand; a book.

DAEMON:

Is it still about that schmuck of a vampire from your twitter friend?

ME:

(Looking back into the book) Yes.  It’s the second in the series.

DAEMON:

Why aren’t you writing anything?

ME:

(Still looking in the book) Because I’d rather be reading right now

DAEMON:

(Lets out a big sigh then speaks under his breath) Yeah, sure, okay.

ME:

What’s your problem?

DAEMON:

Well it seems you’ve been reading a lot lately but haven’t been devoting any time to your own stuff.

ME:

That’s because I have no time and I’m actually hooked to my friend’s stuff, so I’m going to read it.  Why?  And why are you so concerned about my writing anything?  None of your stories are even up to get done yet.

DAEMON:

Why not?  I’m clearly the best character you’ve written.  I’m the most interesting of all of them so I don’t see why you can’t just continue writing about me.

ME:

Maybe I don’t want to get stuck writing the same ol’ crap over and over again.  When something intriguing comes up when it has you in it I’ll write about you again.  Until then, you can shut your cake hole.

DAEMON:

So is that how you treat your intellectual property?

ME:

(Goes back to his book and says nothing)

DAEMON:

You know I might just disappear and then where will you be?

ME:

Probably writing about Millicent.

DAEMON:

Why the hell would you do that?  She’s not interesting at all.

ME:

No, she’s interesting enough to get her own novel.  A novel that you’ll appear in, I might add.

DAEMON:

So when the hell will you write a story where I’m the primary character again?

ME:

I dunno. Does it matter if you die?

DAEMON:

(Stands in silence)

ME:

Yes, I have that power and have been mulling over when I exactly kill you off.

DAEMON:

(Still gives more silence)

ME:

I knew that would shut you up.  Can I go back to reading my friend’s book now?  I’m really digging the werewolf culture she’s created here.

DAEMON:

(Sounding defeated) Yeah, sure.  Have fun.

But now Millicent has recently chimed in with her two cents.  I think it’s because I finally found a model who really closely resembles her physical appearance and she probably doesn’t like it.  But she convinced me that I should write a sequel of sorts to the last Daemon novel.  I say sequel of sorts because it takes place in between to chapters.  If you wanna know which ones then buy the book and read it.

            So it seems Daemon wins for now, but only because I believe to set up Milly’s own novel right I have to write a second book to Daemon, thus sort of making it a series.  So right now the working title is Daemon 2: Electric Boogaloo until I think of a much better title.  I really hate it when my kids win.

            So let me know.  Do any of you suffer from the same afflictions?  Far as I’m concerned my brain is far too crowded in the first place.  Do you ever get a character that yells at you “Talk about me!  Talk about me or I’ll f*****g go away!”  Or does a dream leave a lasting enough impression than you have to write it down as soon as you wake up?

            Now I have one shout out for this blog because I really think this person deserves the attention.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRCe6LdbF9X5660wsqpBZvA is the YouTube channel for Sarah Ortega.  Please subscribe to it, she's really really good.


TTFN