Storylab: Week 4

For this assignment, I decided to go with the Story Lab.  I liked the story I read for this week, but didn't feel like reworking it as it was pretty long.  As I have really started to enjoy writing again, I thought I'd check out the "Advice to Writers" page.  Here is one of my favorites:  "It's a Strange Way to Make a Living."

What happens is six months go by after I finish a book and I start to go out of my mind. I have no hobbies, I don’t garden, I hate travel. The impetus is not inspiration, just a feeling that I better do this. There’s something addictive about leading another life at the same time you’re living your own. If you think about it, it’s a very strange way to make a living.

ANNE TYLER

I hadn't ever really thought of it in this way, but I'm sure that's what it must feel like. I know every time I read a book, and depending on the size of the book I can get through at least one book a day if I have nothing else to do, I get completely lost in the world I'm reading about. I will usually identify with one of the characters and their life becomes my life, their world becomes my world. It really becomes addictive. It's especially addictive to me if I'm reading a series and I pretty much mourn when I get to the end of it and there's nothing else for me from that world.  I have to find another series or book to dive into immediately.

I can only imagine what it's like for an author writing.  You get so lost in the world and characters that they just become a part of you and it must be strange when it's over.  I can especially imagine it being tough if you're writing a series and it goes on for months or years.  All of a sudden it's over and you don't know what to do with yourself after that world is gone.  You've probably explored all of that world there is to explore in the stories, but you aren't quite ready to let go of that world and those characters yet.

One of the best examples of this for me as a reader was reading the "Life As We Knew It" series.  I love dystopian fiction books.  They're some of my favorites.  The scare the life out of me because I know that any of them could probably come true some day, except the alien & zombie stuff, I'm not into those.  But in the first book an asteroid hits the moon, knocking it out of it's orbit & closer to the Earth, causing all sorts of natural disasters & bringing life as we know it on Earth to an end.  I got so caught up in the book, reading it in one afternoon, that when I stepped outside to go pick my daughters up from school I was actually shocked that the world was normal outside.  It wasn't freezing and dark, like in the book.  There was still electricity and cars moving about, unlike the book.  Life was pretty normal with no chaos, death, and destruction.  My mind had gotten so caught up in that book that it took me several minutes to come to grips that it was just a book and life was normal and okay.  I do tend to get caught up in books, but that is the most that a book has ever affected me like that.

(Life As We Knew It from Amazon listing)

It may be a strange way to make a living, and honestly unless you're an avid reader or writer I'm sure it is.  But what an amazing and wonderful way to make a living!  I've always envied those that can make a good living being a writer or having a blog.  I mean, honestly, with all the books and blogs already out there, what on Earth is there left to write about and how do you even become unique enough that people identify with you to want to read your stuff?  I remember reading "The Pioneer Woman" blog back when it first started, because we sorta knew the family, being in the same horse/cattle industry.  When it started to blow up in popularity and people I knew that had no interest in horses & cattle were raving about it, I wondered how the heck that happened!  Then all the spin-off cookbooks, cooking show, etc came about and there is suddenly a whole dynasty just from a little ole blog.  That's when you know you connected with people and became a hit.

So yeah, it may be a strange way to make a living, but what an amazing way to make a living indeed!

(Had to edit my post when I saw this in today's course announcements.  This is one of my all time favorite quotes, but I never knew it was Dr. Seuss.  I will always remember it in one of my favorite kid/chick movies "What A Girl Wants".  A teen girl is trying desperately to fit in with her newfound royal family to win their approval, but her boyfriend tells her this very same quote as he's trying to help her "train."  As the mom of 3 girls, and someone who has never fit in herself, this quote has just always meant something to me.)