Never knew schizophrenia could be so much fun.
First, I want to say that my headline for today's blog is in no way meant to make fun of people who do suffer from schizophrenia. It's a difficult life and I don't mean to imply otherwise. But that word seems to be the common term that other people would describe what happened today.

I had one of those weird writer moments that I love, the ones that remind me, if I ever have forgotten, why I do this. And this is going to be a little tough to describe, especially considering my no-talking-about-current-projects rule, but bear with me. (Or, don't, but then you'll have no idea of the story behind the headline, hee hee!)

Writers fall into two major categories, it seems to me. You have those who plot out every move in advance, figuring out exactly what happens each twist and turn of the way. Then you have the crazy ones, and I don't mean that in the bad way because I count myself among them. I say crazy, only because it sounds crazy when you try to explain it to someone else. See, the crazy writers, the group I ascribe to, don't write about characters. The characters come and tell them what happened, the same way you would tell a friend about what you did over your weekend. They show up and start talking and I love it!!! It sounds completely insane, hence my headline. And at first, I tried to rationalize it, but quickly realized I couldn't. It simply was. And I felt so lucky that they would choose me to talk to (I know, I know, it sounds nuts). I also quickly found out that if I tried to make them do stuff they didn't want to do (like I had a scene in mind or a particular plot twist that I thought would be fun and they didn't agree), they could make my life very difficult. Sometimes, when they feel I'm not listening well enough, they just leave. Stop talking entirely. Sometimes it takes me a few sentences or pages to figure it out, before I realize I'm all alone on the page. And then I have to go back and figure out who I made angry, where I went wrong, where I stopped listening to them.

Like I said, I know it sounds nuts, but when they're really talking to you, opening up to you and spilling out all this stuff you never knew...it's so freaking fantastic. I love it. There is no better feeling than that. Thank you God for letting me experience it.

So, today, I've been kind of wrestling with the beginning of a project that I still need to revise. I'm pretty happy with the project as a whole, but not sure about the existing beginning. So, I've been driving myself (and apparently everyone else) a little nuts about it as well. And today, she, the character I've been wrestling with (not literally, for more reasons that one), just suddenly showed up and started talking about different stuff. Things I didn't know. Things that don't actually affect the current project but happen much farther down the road. Because to her, the current project is already done, it's already happened. We know how it turns out, let's focus on the present here. You're driving me nuts, focusing on all this crap that's already happened. I need to tell you what's happening now.

It was so great!!! A gift that I feel so lucky to get every single time it happens : ) It just sets off that deep contented feeling inside of me. Cheesey, huh? But true!

All right. So again, I know it sounds crazy, but please do not go out and call your nearest mental health professional. I am fine. And even if I'm not, there are lots of us out here doing the same thing. We love it!

And finally, on a more normal note, for those who were curious about the quote from earlier this week, I believe this is a quote from Pretty in Pink, when Ducky is thrown into the girls bathroom by the tough 80's jock-looking guys. Good call, Mike B. However. I do have a tendency to get Pretty in Pink mixed up with 16 Candles, the whole Molly Ringwald factor, so you, Heather, could also be right. Does anyone know for sure? I may just have to force myself to watch the movies this weekend to find out : )

Talk to you Monday (if not before)!