Do we control the stories or do they control us?
My current manuscript deals with reading and how we lose ourselves in the stories. Do you think as writers we have a tendency to do this more than the average person? To become so immersed in a story that for a while we forget who we are and our world seems so much less important than the one we are reading/writing about.
I am not ashamed to say that for a time...the most important question in my life was whether or not Harry would ever be able to defeat Voldemort. Then it became whether or not Bella would suck it up and make Edward bite her. I mean come on, she had the edge there, don’t you think?
Movies affect me the same way. I can't watch the last half hour of The Time Traveler’s Wife because I cannot stop crying. I don’t care if I accidentally pause on the cable channel and get a glimpse of it. It’s sad. And I feel like I know those people.
Is this strange to you? Or do you feel the same way when you read a really good book or watch a great movie?
Maybe I’m weird but I think a great story can weave a spell that pulls you in and makes you believe. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.
You are not weird! I feel the same way. I feel like it's the best stories that stick with us and pull us away for awhile. I still think about the ending of The Time Traveler's Wife (the book, which is a little different the movie ending, a strange mix of sad and happy?)
ReplyDeleteAnd I am very excited for the Harry Potter movie. Even thought I know what happens! I can't wait to see it played out on screen! The best stories suck us in. For sure.
Of course you're not weird because I'm the same way. Wait a minute, that may mean you are weird:)
ReplyDeleteBut who cares if we are? I love being sucked into a story. And I become fond of characters. Some of them feel like friends and I so wish I could meet them after work for drinks and a chat.
I'm totally with you on this one. Like in Marley and Me. Could have done without that last part. I won't even watch past the middle of that movie. And it's on TV all the time now. Or that movie Remember Me. OMG. So sad. If I ever watch it again I'm stopping it before the real ending and making my ending earlier. So so sad!
ReplyDeleteIf you're weird, so am I. :) Stories enchant me body and soul, at least the good ones. And that's the way it should be. :)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! I actually quit reading (or watching) if I'm NOT affected that way! If it doesn't come to life for me, or make me live in that world instead of my own for a while, then I don't even bother!
ReplyDeleteFiction is my escapist drug of choice!
Do you continue thinking about characters long after you've shut a book/turned off the tv? Or is that just me?
ReplyDeleteOk, it's official...we are all weird.lol
ReplyDeleteAnd CD: Yes, I do keep thinking about them. I was depressed for a week after watching Braveheart for the first time. Back when everyone loved Mel GIbson. I also cried and thought about Dumbledore way too much after I read that 6th HP book.
I love it when a good story sucks me in! I need that every once in a while. I only wish more stories had the capability to do so.
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