Mind Games
*kicks down the door with sparklers in hand* yEAH THAT'S RIGHT! MIND GAMES!!!!
Here's the thing: I know there's a lot of grammar rules and more rules and even more rules and then you've got to worry about characters and what they would say and the setting and the plot holes that always show up after you've written the entire chapter- and that's not even including coming up with a plot.
Writing is hard. It truly is.
It becomes easier once you identify why you're writing. Not what you're writing- why.
As for me, I'm not writing to tell a story- I'm writing to take the reader through one. Let me explain.
I'm here to take you through a journey through a vessel's eyes. The vessel is the story and the characters. I'm here to make a story so driven, so engaging, so thorough and descriptive that you are the character. You feel what they feel, you see what they see, you think what they think.
And when the character's bestie dies, you're there crying with them. You see, I write because I love to whirl together sentences that describe a story, but I also write to invoke a reaction.
I'm here to tear you apart.
And for those of you who are nervous or new or whatever, here's a little pep talk from someone who views a story as a full on three dimensional chess game between me, the writer, and you, the reader.
When you write, you are all powerful. This is your turf. Your terrain. You know the scene more than anyone else- you know it better than the characters navigating it. You are the puppeteer. You are the ringleader. You spin the web. You set the traps.
The reader is here to have a good time reading, not to be sucker punched in the gut. But that's exactly what you want to do when writing a dramatic story.
After all, when someone reads a character's death and starts to freak out, don't you feel a bit good inside? Their reaction meant your writing was good enough to spark an emotion. It meant your writing was deep enough to cause the reader, a person outside the story who has little to no involvement in the tale your telling, to have a reaction.
As a reader, I love it when I read something and get chills. I love it when I'm so in tune with a story I forget I'm reading. I love it when I'm living the character's life as they try to traverse the plot and become so enthralled by the story that I read for hours while thinking it's been minutes.
So that's what I try to do when I'm writing. I try to make the reader feel an emotion.
That's why I write. That's my center. I'm here to take the reader on a journey.
So what's your center?
Perhaps you're like me: the person who laughs while their readers cry (while also sometimes hiding tears yourself). Maybe you're not.
And no, I'm not saying to kill someone off just to get a reaction. I'm saying make your story so convincing that your reader becomes the main character (if that's what you're trying to do). Killing someone off for no reason is useless. Character deaths should drive the plot, at least in my opinion.
Once figure out why you're writing, the rest becomes a bit clearer. In a book, you're everyone. You're the scrawny nerd. You're the jock. You're the romantic interest. You're the creepy dude outside the 7-11. You're the best friend. You're the shy person in the back of class. You're the knight in shining armor. You're the one who almost made it. You're the one who lives with the grief. You're the one who seeks revenge. You're the one who betrays the rest. I could go on forever like this.
Basically, writing's hard and, no matter your skill level, you should be proud of your work. As far as mind games, what I do is try to take the reader on the character's journey so that they feel every emotion the character does.
You might call be a psychopath for this, but whenever someone's like "NO! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!? NONONONO", I smile. It means I did completed my goal.
This is one of those "I answered the question but also didn't" moments. The topic of today's chapter was mind games, yet it turned out as kind of a pep talk. Little weird, huh? You'd expect a chapter called "Mind Games" to give more tips about the actual game part. You see, this chapter is a trick of its own. You might have noticed that there weren't many, if any, examples. You see, this entire chapter is the example. Mind games require confidence and for the writer to know exactly what they're capable of.
Invoking a reaction is just a fancy term for manipulation. When I write, I'm manipulating the reader into feeling what I want them to feel. And as for this chapter, I wanted you to feel confident in your abilities.
It's almost as if I'm playing a game with you.
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