Writers tend to suffer the most from conflicts arising from in and around them. As their works is expected to reflect interesting conflicts, focusing on deep dynamics of human emotion and pain, they have little or no option to understand their own situation better than others.
We as writers often come up with characters who are stuck in major situations, life threatening at the most. We toggle with their lives, often making them do things, they themselves if human, would’ve never attempted. And then there comes a time when we ourselves get stuck in such a situation where our live reflects that of a character in a book (or a movie) and then we realize exactly the predicament our characters are undergoing.
I am a sucker for murder and psychological thriller and should be thankful to the heavens for not putting me in spot of my character. But often I have seen my other writer buddies who complain about a break up in a relationship they’ve written. It is uncanny and amusing because most times it is down to the very last detail and the writer ends up much remorseful about writing the break-up more than the breach in the relationship itself.
I mean, it is funny, right?
However, it get’s much worse when a writer is obsessed with his characters and puts them under pain staking situations. In such cases, every conflict that the writer faces in real life becomes a thing to be analysed under various levels, which can go on harm ones mental stability.
Stephen King wrote a very interesting and scary (of course!) novel called The Dark Half, where the lead character Thad Beaumont suffers from the existence of an alter ego called George Stark, who one fine day comes to life as another physical entity to murder
The most striking part about this tale is example is that Stephen King now also wrote as his alter ego Richard Bachman, who the author described to have then died of ‘cancer of the pseudonym’.Thad’s family.
It is very fitting how a conflict can personally cause a revolting reaction inside the mind of a writer and go on to intrigue him or her beyond the norms of reality. And then go on to do what? Make the writer crazy? Perhaps.
– Shaun D’souza
Beat Up Shaun With Delight! 