I am in essence, a writer. This can mean many things to many
different people. However, I am sure that most of them will agree that you find
inspiration wherever you can find it; whether it is at the bottom of a wine
glass or shocking your system with the most shocking parts of human depravity,
or even just looking at life, in its harsh reality. Personally I prefer the
wine glass, but others may not.
As a writer, you take on many personalities. You see other
people and imagine their lives. It is a type of voyeurism, albeit an imaginary
one. You see things and make inferences based on very little fact. What is it
like to be a woman, a lover, a soldier, a ruler, a villain?
A writer can’t afford the luxury of a single world view, can’t
afford to take on the aspect of a single gender, group or culture. You have to
see things as other people see them. You have to live the lives they live, feel
what they feel and see things as they see them. It can be hard at times, living
the lives of other people; feeling what they feel and believing as they do.
Imagine a book, where everyone has the same beliefs, same
values, and same reactions. The cleverer of you might be able to name the few
books that are exactly like that, and the more enlightened among you will
readily admit that those books are somewhat tedious and boring (I am being
diplomatic here)
With so many people in the world, each with their own
personal view, personal set of beliefs and their own set of life experiences,
it becomes difficult for a writer to judge one as right and one as wrong. If you
cannot identify with your villain, your hero will be weak.
I digress. This post is not about good and evil, hero and
villain, but rather about the lives of other people, and therefore, your own.
Once you have lived the lives of the many around you, it
becomes difficult to remember your own. You realise the wants, needs and
motivations of others, but seem to forget your own at times. Generally speaking,
this is not a problem. Being able to see and visualize your characters as individuals,
with their own beliefs, emotions and value systems is an asset that any writer
will attempt to gain. It makes your characters people. It makes people identify
with them but you lose sight of the fact that not everyone can do this.
At heart you are many people, believing many things,
allowing those around you to be just as they are because you understand them
(or at the very least believe you do). Those around you cannot always
understand this. Why would you defend someone who has done them wrong? Why would
you even try to understand the reasoning of someone that offended them? How could
you see anything positive in a reasoning that most would consider flawed?
Meanwhile you wonder how they cannot see it. How can they
not see the flaws in their own reasoning?
This does not mean that writers have a kind of omnipotence
with regards to human behavior – they have their own prejudices to overcome –
but I would like to believe they are on the path already.
Understanding those who are close to you is often more
difficult and hazardous than understanding the human race in general. A friend
or a lover could be a lot more subjective about you and your behavior than you
are about theirs. You might not realise how much (or how little) you and your
opinions mean to them.
Personally, I have tried to open the minds of those around
me, though I do not know how successful I have been. I have noticed that where I
thought I had succeeded, I have, in fact, failed. In other cases I had thought I
have failed, but succeeded.
I guess the moral of the story is to be true to yourself,
even when you think it will be received poorly. Sometimes it will be, but other
times it will be an impression that lasts a lifetime.
