Cale said this to me earlier today: Sometimes, you remind me of a small child. You ask too many open ended questions.
To my credit, we were at the pier watching fisherman bring in their catch of the day and watching the seals swim through the water, waiting for fish to accidentally fall overboard. I mean, there are a lot of open ended questions to ask when you're watching that.
But don't you all think that it's a requirement of a writer to ask all those questions?
I took a nap today and before I fell asleep I thought, What would happen if everybody was connected to someone else and could only die once that other person died. If you got sick or were injured you could survive because you were spiritually attached to someone else? Overpopulation of the world, that's what would happen. But that's not the point. The point is that we ask ourselves these weird questions, file them away, and write books answering them later.
And it's totally okay! No one can say our questions are annoying because frankly, it's just a consequence of our job.
Job Hazard Zone: too many questions.
My teachers in middle school were right after all, there are no such things as stupid questions, and even if there are, those stupid questions lead to really interesting answers, which lead to even more really interesting questions.
Moral of this post, it's not possible to ask too many questions. Our curiosity drives our imaginations and surely that's a good thing.
Because seriously, have you ever wondered if seals accidentally breath in water like people sometimes do when they're swimming? Or why a Dogfish is called a Dogfish? I know I have!
I ask stupid questions all the time. My husband is so patient with me. Isn't it great to wonder and to dream? As you said, even if you can't find the answer to your questions, you can always think one up. Happy writing!
ReplyDeleteI ask a ton of stupid (and not so stupid) questions. I figure you look dumber if you go ahead and do something without asking how and doing it wrong, than by asking a question about something that may seem obvious.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I learned this from experience...
You have 2 months to write that book or claim it as your novel premise before I respectfully ask for dibs on that concept.
ReplyDelete:) It's really that great of a question!
Aww geez, now I'm googling seal breathng accidents lol. But I have to know now!
ReplyDeleteOooh I LOVED your question! You have a ready-made plot line right there! And yes, I totally think it's a writers job to ask a kagillion questions--its what we do. I think being a writer intitles you to play the "What if...?" game all the time.
ReplyDeleteBahaha! Two months- you might as well swipe that question now ;)
ReplyDeleteThe cool thing is that we all could take that question and write completely different books on it. I'm glad y'all liked it!
It's nice to have a bf who encourages questions like Cale does AND especially nice to have such a wonderful group of writers around me who gets as excited as I do over new ideas :)
Hehe, I live right by a fisherman's dock, and I get to hear the seals getting excited and barking at the fishermen at night, when they toss out the fish guts. Very cute. XD
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, yes--that's such a big part of being a writer! Asking questions sparks ideas. I actually like your idea regarding the two connected people. That could turn into something interesting.
Hey, I love when other people ask questions. It fills in all of the questions I didn't ask myself. There'd be no advancement whatsoever if no one asked "what if," right? Hehe, nice post.
But if the two people are connected, how do either of them ever die? I mean, you couldn't die until they did, but they also can't die until you do, right?
ReplyDeleteMore important than asking questions, to me, is observation. Besides, observing often answers the stupid questions before we get the chance to ask them.