If you’ve ever wondered:
Three senarios comparing Writer Brain (WB) to Non-Writer Brain (NWB) while out for a walk in Eliza Howell park in the early morning hours.
SENARIO 1:
SCENE: White van with blacked-out windows enters the park.
NWB: May or may not notice white van with blacked-out windows. Continues on walk.
WB: Watches white van with blacked-out windows as it cruises slowly around the park. The occupant of the white van is a serial killer stalking walkers in the park. WB immediately begins to evaluate the psychological makeup of serial killer and gives him/her a complete backstory. Determines what his chances are and what his response will be if/when the serial killer confronts him.
SENARIO 2:
SCENE: White van with blacked-out windows parked, engine idling. The flight path to the airport is directly over the park. A plane flies over.
NWB: May or may not notice the plane. Has forgotten all about the white van with blacked-out windows.
WB: The men in the white van with blacked-out windows are terrorists. They are going to fire surface-to-air missles at the plane flying overhead. WB immediately reaches for his cell phone, considers that he will be a witness to this atrocity and his life will be in danger. Commits to memory every detail and runs for it.
SENARIO 3:
SCENE: There is a large amount of blood on the ground, scattered over a fairly large area.
NWB: May or may not spot the blood. If so, will figure it’s animal blood.
WB: The guy/gal in the white van with blacked-out windows has shot/knifed/bludgeoned someone who managed to escape into the park. The guy/gal is now in pursuit. WB immediately determines that he is now a witness to this crime and that his life is in danger.
The white van with blacked-out windows, the park, the plane and the blood are real. The rest is what tumbled out of this writer’s brain along the way. Walks are so much more entertaining when you have a writer’s brain.
