I once had a writing professor tell the class in the midst of promoting a local event: “If you can’t sneak into a school auditorium, you’re not fit to be a writer.” As a writer who just finds it simple common courtesy to pay the fee at the door, I can still appreciate the mindset from which he was coming from. While we are not all the same in our styles and perspectives—not by a long shot—writers tend to share a free spirit and sense of adventure. By nature, we try to bend the rules of our realities and our writing, because at the heart and soul of things, we are really on a quest for knowledge. We bend the rules of reality for the sake of asking, “What would happen if….” We bend the rules of our writing in order to portray that “if” in the most true-to-life-in-all-its-chaos-and-beauty sense. And we sometimes sneak into events because part of that quest for knowledge means experiencing life from many different angles—especially the mischievous ones.
As part of this quest, we also tend to do a lot of weird things and ask a lot of unusual—and sometimes disturbing—questions, particularly for the sake of research. And out of all things done for the sake of research I am probably most guilty of the strange internet searches—which have only succeeded in proving to me the internet really doesn’t have all the answers. Some of my most recent searches include, “How fast does blood start flowing from your mouth after being stabbed?” and, “Where’s the best place to wound someone without killing them?” (Former: depends on where you’re stabbed. Anything connected to the respiratory system or stomach would have fast results, while the lower abdomen might not result in blood from the mouth at all; the latter: still not 100% sure, but I know all the worst places, now.)
A lot of us go even further than an instant internet search. I’ve heard of one writer who had themselves waterboarded for the sake of writing a torture scene. Other writers have been known to join street and motorcycle gangs in order to gain a different perspective. While I have never done anything that drastic, I can’t say those kinds of thoughts haven’t crossed my mind. Nothing quite so severe as to be traumatizing or life-threatening: just things that would require stepping out of my comfort zone. Like walking through a cemetery at night. Or taking a ship across the sea; or traveling the world on my own.
Clearly, sometimes we go too far. But we do it because our experiences add to our ability to come at the world from all sides, not just one. And if nothing else, the more mischief we cause, the more lifestyles we follow, and the more we learn about the world around us, the less we know—and the more we are driven to learn. It is a beautiful, endless cycle that I believe to be true of all passionate creators.
Night Owls, what are some weird things you have done for the sake of creativity?
I would like to meet the guy who got waterboarded for science! My own exploration has been far less exciting. Typically, I feel a strong connection while on walks in nature. I picture myself being called to adventure and I am in the part of the story authors skip over. My travels have brought me to some amazingly beautiful and enchanting places. It’s hard not to feel otherworldly.
Nature is definitely a source of inspiration, especially if you’ve really gotten the chance to explore. It’s great that you’ve been able to travel to a lot of wonderful places! I’ve barely been outside of the Pacific Northwest, myself, so you can probably imagine how unexciting I feel… But I’m hoping to change that soon.