Accepting My Weirdness

Growing up, I knew I was always a little strange. I was different from the other kids, not quite fitting in all the time. By late middle school, I learned to suppress my odd tendencies and go with the flow, but I always knew I was different. I always saw the world in a different light.

When you’re three, no one thinks anything of the imaginary conversations you have between your dolls. They say you’re cute, or smart, or creative. At sixteen, however, making up conversations for the couple three tables down at a restaurant isn’t quite so cute. It’s weird.

Or so I thought.

Then I learned there were others just like me. Others whose imaginations were not limited by the constraints of social norms. Others who had voices rambling on in their head. Story lines playing out like a silver screen.  Worlds constantly being constructed.

Authors. Writers. Novelist.

Call us what you want, but we all have one thing in common…the endless supply of characters filling our minds with ongoing chatter, while they patiently (some, not so patiently) wait for the day we put them on paper. It was then, realizing there were others like me, or I like them, that I accepted my weirdness for what it truly was. Talent.

There has never been a “Great” in history that said I just want to be normal and fit the status quo. After all, Beethoven was Bipolar, Michelangelo was autistic, Darwin was agoraphobic and they all are known as some of the greatest artists in history. So I have a few – or a lot – of characters who talk to me, that’s not such a big deal, right?

As I was reading the article “Writers Through The Eyes Of Those Who Love Them” by Laura Drake in this month’s issue of Romance Writers Report, I came across a few quote that made me laugh…mostly because I have been there. So enjoy, and remember great storytelling always comes from a little bit of crazy.