One of the things that a writer often doesn’t realise is the fact that who one is is laid bare for every reader to see. It’s in the words one uses, all of the words, not just those of the protagonist. The antagonist is as much about the author as is the protagonist. Each of us has a shadow side, often a side that is unrecognised. Rarely do we want our shadow side to be exposed. More often than not, we deny the existence of that shadow and project it onto others, usually others whom we would view as our antagonists.
I have slowly been building a new story that appears to be called The Four, a story that deals with what I could call the ‘collective shadow’ being exposed. I’m not very far into the story which stands at 8,000 as i write this post. Naturist scenes have appeared as though natural, and that isn’t as surprise as naturism is an integral part of who I am.
The plot of the story isn’t centred around naturism, but around the eternal good versus evil conflict. As I think about it, this is a vital approach to normalising nudity. Rather than preach, the story unfolds without nudity becoming the story. For those that want to read what has been written so far, I am posting it to Wattpad. It’s a free read and will remain that way.
I have to admit that it feels good to be writing again. The change in the weather has had something to do with this. With the clouds rolling in and the temperatures dropping, I find it easier to be at the keyboard in my house, exposed and wearing nothing but my glasses.
I am not up to full steam as a writer and that is mostly due to my allergies which have been acting up because of smoke from forest fires giving me some breathing difficulties. One of the positive things about autumn is the lessening of the number of allergens in the air. This is why the period from September through March is my most productive time as a writer.
Now, this act of writing and having one’s soul and being exposed to the world is fraught with doubts on the part of the writer. Many authors retreat into writing stories that avoid the world of shadows, those inner worlds. This isn’t a criticism of these writers. These stories are often the ‘feel good’ stories that so many of us need. And then there are the writers who use formulas and templates, more of a paint-by-number approach to writing.
Surprisingly, these are the stories that appear to be the most popular for readers as they are something predictable. In our unpredictable world, we often retreat into a book that doesn’t disturb one’s psyche. The last thing needed is to have a story force us to confront our own shadows, stuff that we hope never gets exposed to the people in our lives.
And yet, knowing all of this, I continue to plunge head first into the shadow worlds. Writing from the depths is my therapy. It is also needed as a counterpoint to those stories that refuse to dare disturbing the waters of the unconscious.
Interesting, as my Sun-world, Shadow-world story is about lots of dark things too.
And that is the key to “good” stories that are not just told as feel-good stories.