Brain Junk Creates Fantastic Writing

What I once believed to be useless bits of information clogging up my brain’s storage space, turned out to be source of seemingly unlimited number story ideas. How I turn those bits of trivia into a career is another matter entirely!

The Bits of Useless Information

I constantly feel like a weirdo who finds himself at the bottom of a Wikipedia rabbit hole wondering how I ended up reading a list of volcanoes in Canada. But those random facts have stuck with me. Through every late night, “I wonder” session, and every random question that I end up googling has an answer that is – at the very least – mildly interesting. Questioning how things work, what things were, events that have taken place, and everything in between has led me to some profound realizations about the world we live in, and the history I have learned has been so incredibly interesting it feels like we live in a fantasy world at times. 

Writing our World

It is incredibly easy to take the written word for granted. We are so used to seeing it everywhere, and the fact that we can read at all is taken as a given. Time tells us though; we are incredibly lucky to be able to read and write at all! Through most of history, humans have been illiterate aside from a select, powerful group of people. These authors from our collective past have passed down a way of viewing the world and have scribbled values that we still hold onto tightly today. The hero’s journey, for example, was first inscribed on clay tablets over 5000 years ago. Appreciating humanity through writing, and through the history of our ancestors has helped build some of the most compelling tales of all time.

Creatively Writing Our History

One of the most haunting excerpts I have read is a description of an Inuit’s account of artic explorers meeting their doom. The description was written so well it had to have been crafted as pure fiction. It wasn’t fiction, and the story all the more haunting for having actually happened. The power of writing our history allows us to examine aspects of being human that touch our senses. Through this creative view on our past, we can then manufacture a reality that is of fiction. One that we design the rules for, and the characters, though never having existed, feel real for their traits. Genghis Khan feels like a made-up character, but his traits have been used as inspiration of conquerors for generations.

Crafting a Unique World

Writing fiction is more than just telling a good story. Its crafting a unique world. It happens when characters come alive, and the story moves through the dialogue. The best authors of all time transport us into their works through sheer power of imagination. When we turn the last page, we feel as though we’re stepping out of that world and back into reality. The bits of random facts that the best authors have stored away in their heads lead to building believable characters, existing in incredible worlds, doing unimaginable things. 

The Joy of Creative Writing

Of all the ways to say something, why not say it creatively? So much of our world is drab and boring, or cut from the same cloth, and we’re all looking for something new. That’s where creative writing comes in, and all of those useless bits of information that takes up all that space finds a home. Appreciating those facts has allowed me to construct fictional worlds of my own, they have allowed me to create characters that experience heart break, endure conflicts and harbor desires that manifest themselves only through intense spirit dreams. I am free of the burden of useless information, and can enjoy creative writing, both from my own creations, and that of the countless authors that have existed before me. 

Living Writers Life

Living Mike Life isn’t about living only one life, but rather making the most of life. Part of what I am passionate about is writing, and the act of writing alone. Just as I am passionate about snowboarding, hiking, and any other adventure I take on, writing is the catalyst for those adventures. Writing is about sharing thoughts and experiences. Writing is about engaging with each other as humans from one place to another, and from one time to another, we can enjoy the words and thoughts of voices we’ll never hear. 

Living Writers life is a series of posts dedicated to the joy of writing. Read and share thoughts of what it means to be human!