Books Are Magic: Inside the Mind of the Author

Thursday, 23 May 2013

Inside the Mind of the Author

- Guest Post by Rebecca Ethington

All authors have one thing in common; inside our minds are webs of mystery, hallways of giggles, and so much imagination it’s bound to seep out of ears in ribbons of glittery magic. It’s all jumbled up with words, hundred upon thousands of words that somehow, miraculously, blend themselves together into perfectly descriptive bits that drag our readers into our stories with such finesse that they can never hope to escape.

Authors are storytellers.

At least that is what I would like to view myself as. After all, my life begins in a theatre; a place where simple stories are blended with stage lights, costumes, and glitter to create something far more the simple. It’s magic. That’s what my life is, magic. I think it was my life in the theatre that kept my imagination so close to the front of my brain and never let it delve back into that cobwebbed filled closet that houses so many dreams.

Authors keep their imagination right in front; we let it turn flexed fingers into crackling energies of magic, eerie mountains into heroic quests, dresses into ball gowns, and give voice to inanimate objects.

While this may sound like a beautiful, magical place, it can also be a curse. After all, there are only so many hours in a day, so many keys on a keyboard. Dreams become fuel to whimsical tales, and nightmares as villains create themselves. And, who wants to be driving down the street when a song puts the perfect story in your head and you have to pull over to write it down before you forget it. (The kids still don’t forgive me for that one)

If you had to put the workings of an authors brain into a movie comparison I would have to say, for me, it’s a very even mix between ‘What Dreams May Come’ and ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’. There is whimsy, terror, magic, impossible things, fear. I mean, I could go on and on. Without the ability to process it all, I would likely go insane. Which is probably what all good authors are right on the brink of being.

It’s our filter that allows us to see the truth from the amazing story; it’s our talent that allows us to put that story on paper. To create worlds that only exist in our minds and share them in a way that allows them to infiltrate yours. It is writing that allows us to share our imagination, without sharing we would probably all die for a brain to full of awesomeness, and that would be a tragedy. What would this life be without Middle Earth, Harry Potter, old fashioned love, forgotten children, and epic battles.

It would be boring.

And that is why authors share their imagination, and why I am glad to let you into my head – my crazy, scary, and possibly amazing mind.

‘Cause if I didn’t – the world would be short of one amazing story. And that, is a shame.