Adrift
In a previous post, there is a mention of my tendency to “drift off.” I second-guessed myself after that post. For many, many years, I was known to be a daydreamer, but it seems that reputation outlived reality. In fact, I can’t ever remember the last time I daydreamt. Does craving a favourite treat count?
When I thought about it more, I realised that I do, indeed, still get lost in my thoughts. But perhaps, owing to being old enough to have accumulated sadness and have a certain understanding of the world, the daydreaming has turned into day-dreading.
Grim, I know. Living fearful isn’t living. But, maybe because I’m a writer who pays close attention to believability, I can’t get myself to daydream about things that seem unattainable. My mindset as of late has been one gets what they want out of life by sheer grit and, perhaps, with a smattering of luck. My skeptical nature takes the driver’s seat these days.
When we are young, we dream of a life different from what we have. When we’re older, we understand that there are limits to what we can change. Perhaps there is a way to keep drifting, not to desire a certain future but as a way to thrive in the present.
Your Prompt: What do your characters fear? How do these fears manifest in their thoughts? Write in detail the dreaded scenarios that loop around in a character’s mind. The challenge is to make them unrealistic, but seeming probable to the character.
Quick Tip
Are you writing efficiently? Pick one scene in your work and examine it. Aside from moving the story along, what does it accomplish? Does it allow the unfolding of an important character? Foreshadow a later twist? Provide crucial context about the period or the setting?
About Writing Desk
Years ago, I gave up blogging for good. But I changed my mind and here we are. Aside from maintaining a consistent writing practice, my goal is to build a live space outside social media for content that supports the creative process, free of mindless, addictive, and AI-generated distractions.
May your visits here be frequent but brief. The idea is to offer something that will light a spark, not distract from your writing. For this reason, I don’t post Writing Desk on social media. Thanks for stopping by!
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Found Words
” But so often, joy and beauty were stuck in the same places as grief and shame, and one cannot be accessed without the other”
—Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi, The Centre
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Leah Ranada 