I've always enjoyed the fact that these ideas for stories play out in my mind. The characters become like friends. You really feel you get to know them. It becomes like watching a movie as you follow them through their story. Their choices leave you on the edge of your seat, and you feel their emotions as they battle with their problems and obstacles.
Having all those plots swirling around in your head is even better than reading, because you can interact with them. If something happens that you don't like, you get to fix it. You can change the tone of the story. You can add new characters. You can change where the action takes place. It's a little like the Choose your own Adventure books I read as a kid. You make a decision as the story progresses and so you determine how the story ends.
The curse is how isolated it can make you. How do you explain to other people what goes on in your mind? They'd think you were crazy. Sometimes you think you are crazy as you find yourself growing so attached to your characters. I spend a lot of my time at my computer typing away as I try and get all the happenings down on paper.
At times, it might feel as if life passes you by as hours can disappear in a blink. Then I just remember what I have created. I can go back over the passages and bring those characters to life in ways that often surprise me. The best times are when I've logged several hours of writing. Then the next day I go back and read over what I wrote and find myself becoming engrossed in my own words. When I am amazed sometimes at what I have created, I know that I have my characters help in doing what I do.
I can't imagine not writing every day. I can't understand how other people don't go around with ideas just begging to be written. I guess it makes sense because I don't know how someone can dunk a basketball or throw a 100 mph fastball. We all have our gifts, talents or curses. The one I have allows me to share all those rantings in my mind. I believe that I am blessed.
