What About Love?

If we write, then we probably have a love for ourselves and a love for the material we put out. Whatever struggles we confront in life are actually opportunities to write about the conflicts we're in touch with.

When I wrote Parallel Opposites, I had already gone through some challenges that I hadn't foreseen in anyone else's life, things that I hadn't been through before. A friend and roommate was arguing with my family until they took him to a homeless shelter at a time I had been living at my great aunt's house, helping her, in a situation I would've otherwise been homeless myself. If I remember right, there was an undercurrent of fear of the unknown that I experienced, after not landing another job in Omaha where I lived with this roommate. Already, I had spent time with this friend in Chicago where everything was an expense. After Omaha, we came back to my aunt's house. When he went to the homeless shelter, I went to jail for harvesting wild marijuana plants for tea, and herbal seasoning on food. I didn't think it was anything illegal, but it may have incidentally triggered more paranoia for me which set in deep in jail, where I began to hear voices. It was always my impression that these were real people talking to me, at a time I believed in reincarnation. It was a multitude of strangers yelling at me. A year later, after an overwhelming sense of paranoia, I attempted suicide twice consecutively, both times landing in hospitals. The second time, they put me on appropriate medication, but these experiences led me to write. I think another motivation for me is the movies I was watching at the time. I had never before considered writing to make a living, but I was out of options, and these films were a real influence. I was also reading more when I came out of the hospital. Books that I had bookmarks in, and others I was only then beginning to read.

 I guess the discussion here needs to focus on the importance of our writing to us. How important is your story to you? Is it based on you? Do you seek resolution in your life through your writing? Do you want more people to know you the way you know you? Sometimes, that can be a very motivating aspect of writing for me. Also, what themes run through your fiction? Do you find yourself searching for things to say that are similar to the themes in your previous works, or is there always a new theme for you to investigate? How well do you recognize the struggles of other people? Does it make you afraid of what you're unable to accomplish in this life? Maybe we can even discuss how deep we've gone or how close to the edge we've come before. If so, then we should all be someone to help out. There's always a different way of looking at situations that other people are in, and it's easier to find a solution from the outside looking in, rather than from the inside looking out. I've found that a lot of people are moody, after believing everyone must have this fearless, enthusiastic sense of freedom throughout all of life in order to survive struggles such as my own. Isn't television an obstruction anymore? We have strangers entering our homes, saying anything and everything from numerous attitudes that are not conducive to living.

Here at this article is one place I thought we could share how much we value our work and also introduce ourselves to these writing groups. What projects are most important to you, and how important is getting published? There are a number of right reasons for this to be important. We can be remembered. We can meet new people. We can feel we are doing something important.

Please also share a link to your story if you have an excerpt available to read.