There is something powerful and full of magic about imagining a person, a place, and a situation. Imagination gives these life. It is an act of creation larger than the writer, the artist, or the playwright. These characters, towns, and life events spring from part of us, and they form lives of their own. It is our responsibility to take care of them and to make sure we give them what they need, or perhaps for a stronger plot, what they want. And while making them (or when making anything), we must give our attention.

 Once a story is started, it grows, even when it is seemingly ignored. Just as we can ponder a difficult problem for weeks in the back of our brains, the story we jotted down lives on. Without our attention and our listening, the sly and witty words of our characters remain unspoken, their wrong or dogged steps are unrecorded, but their words and steps and the story come to light when we stop and remember. They are right there, you can write what they say. We might discover that our character’s kids spent all the grocery money on candy, and grandpa ran out of gas, his truck still stuck on the highway. 

As the story waxes and wanes, we realize it needs us. Like our garden or house plants, their lives are reliant upon our attention and encouragement. 

We are sorcerers conjuring magic. The characters become real. The story becomes true as we write it. The making of something gives it life and in return, our creative lives are nurtured by its existence. Artists must make, and the creating action creates us. 

Go, make worlds. You already know how.

See you next space…