Can we talk?

Writing What's In My Head

         I have a busy imagination. However, when I sit down to write, I freeze. Any time I sit still, my mind goes into movie time. I rewrite scenes all the time. I try different directions,different dialog, different settings. I can do it even when there is activity all around me. The movies in my head are in full color. And, of course, I'm so clever in this make-believe world, so witty and wise. Not that the lines are mine. I'm frequently not a character in the movies at all. 

         My characters, which occasionally do make it onto paper, are inspired by real people or people I've seen. A TV actor, for instance, may become the physical model for my villain.Or maybe I use some offbeat character I have known.The personality may differ, but the physical traits, hand gestures, phrasing, and so forth might be modeled after some real person. I don't always get that across in my stories, but in my mind's eye and ear, the character is very real and lifelike. 

         If I want to add some humor, I picture someone I think is funny. Sometimes the humor comes after I imagine the funny person. I think maybe I can't commit them to paper because I don't feel the overall theme or purpose. The great scenes, the dramas, just don't come together in a purposeful way. People get drama and melodrama in their everyday lives. Why read a short story about more of the same?

         I would like to get all those stories floating around up there funneled out and onto paper. Maybe I could make sense of them if I could look at them. I hate to admit this, but some of what's up there should stay there. It shouldn't see the light of day.