Image via Wikipedia

29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?

The short answers are “almost all the time” and “often”.

I’m always mulling over either the story I’m editing or the next one I’ll be writing.  Used to be these thoughts were much more concentrated on the currently editing and less on the next project but that seems to have flip-flopped on me lately.  Probably not a good thing as I already have a bad habit of starting more than I can finish.  My poor writing partner gets random emails from me pitching my next idea, but she’s a good sport and is always encouraging.  I have a little notebook too that I use for jotting down stray thoughts.  Some I use for flash fiction stories, others I see as novel material.

I love going to the movies early.  I get the best seats and while everyone else watches “The Twenty”, I’m mulling over ideas and not feeling guilty for neglecting anyone or being anti-social.  Best of both worlds.

Stumbling across sights or events in real life that remind me of my writing is something I’ve learned to keep to myself.  It happens but I no longer share it.  The epiphany of keeping it to myself came when I realized I’d just used a fictional situation from one of my novels to explain a human resources position to one of my employees.  She gave me an odd look and I realized I probably sounded like Ginger from Gilligan’s Island (click the link if you’ve no idea what I’m talking about).  Ginger had a habit of offering solutions to problems based on what her movie characters had done in similar situations.  And you just knew her fellow castaways probably found it cool for the first couple of days, then began to roll their eyes behind her back.  Except for Gilligan, of course.

So, I”ll leave you with a bit of advice.  Don’t be a Ginger.  Fact may be stranger than fiction but it carries more weight with non-writers.  Writers, on the other hand, will play along, God bless ’em.