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Writing: So Many Universes, So Little Time

Each story and poem I write is a little universe on their own. If that's really the case, then I'm the mother of so many alternate universes. Where do they all come from? There isn't a single answer to that and half the time I'd only shrug my shoulders. Sometimes they spring up fully formed, like Athena from Zeus's head. Other ones take time to develop, like a four-star chef's recipe in a test kitchen.

The ones that stay with me, whether for a single short piece or a full blown series, all have one thing in common. I need to find a reason to connect to it. It can be a single, memorable character. It can be one particular setting. Maybe it's a line of dialogue, or an interaction between or among characters. Maybe it's the culture in where these people interact and live their lives. Or I feel a quality there, an invitation to know more about these people and these places. 

Quantum mechanics state that there are many universes coexisting at the same time. Some are small as a grain in sand, others larger than we can imagine. A writer makes their own worlds, weaves their tales set in those worlds, and they exist for a time. Even if just for a three-line poem, even in a series that spans decades, it endures for that moment.

Is a writer just attuned to these particular universes? They find a way to tap into them, interpret them in a unique way and convey it to others. Of course, there are the tropes, the nagging sense of "it's been done before", or the similarity of ideas and themes. It's the unique spin that the writer puts on those ideas that make that universe stand on its own.

I try to find that unique way that still tells my story. Each idea is different. One involves a world of dark magic and political intrigue. One shows the struggle between traditional magic and emerging technology. My protagonists fight against traditions, closed minded thinking, and hardships. Some will win and some will lose, but it's what happens in between that makes it interesting.

So keep writing in your little universes and bring that story out so others can experience it too. Give them reasons to connect to it and keep coming back. Keep writing.

~Sifa

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