Writing from the Shadowland of the Human Condition

There is a wonderful quote by the Roman, Seneca. He says, “Nothing human is alien to me.” I think that is such a powerful quote. If we are to find our true voice as writers, we cannot be afraid of the dark side of the human condition. What is really powerful writing is writing that explores the shadowlands of the human soul. We all have dark and we all have light within us. If you’re afraid to write about sex or you’re afraid to write about violence or you’re afraid to write about homosexuality –– if you’re afraid to write about anything, anything at all, then that’s stopping your creativity.

All aspects of the human condition have to be open to us. You can choose not to write about something, but there’s a big difference between choosing not to write about something and being afraid or actually unable to write about something.

As creative writers we need to explore all the primal passions; only then can we make choices in our writing.

Thoughts on the Inner Critic

Imagine your conscious mind is tuned in to a radio station run by a single disc jockey, your Inner Critic, and you have no way to turn down the volume much less turn it off. In fact, you’ve grown so used to the constant talk from the Inner Critic, you hardly notice he’s ordering you about, commenting, passing judgment and evaluating just about everything you do or say; this is all so subtle and insidious that you don’t separate out the Inner Critic from other parts of you. The Inner Critic has become you—it seems as if the only time you can escape his badgering is when you sleep. There is a reason for this. When you sleep, your conscious mind shuts down. The dream state or intuitive right side of the brain, takes over.

The Inner Critic avoids the dream state like the plague. He can’t get a foothold in a place where there is no apparent logic, where things appear as images, feelings, sounds and colors. It should not be surprising, then, that your best stories, characters and plots, come from this place of dreams, where little is known and anything is possible

Interviewing Your Characters

Some Interviewing Questions:

1. How old are you?

2. What kind of work do you do?

3. Are you married?

4. Do you have any children?

5. Are you in a good relationship to your spouse or lover?

6. Have you ever been unfaithful?

7. Has your partner ever been unfaithful?

8. What kinds of things make you angry?

9. How do you express that anger?

10. You’re in a scene with someone who is making you very angry. Why? What’s making you angry?

11. What memory does the scene bring up?

12. What memory does the memory bring up?