Writing is Crafting the “Spirit Molecule”
The spirit molecule is produced in the brain, specifically the pineal gland —considered the third eye by many cultures. I first read about this chemical in an article; about the disturbing effects it can have as well as the healing powers, helping some people cope with trauma while encountering external entities. As a writer, I suspect I generate this molecule frequently, creating my own worlds and encountering all kinds of bizarre entities we writers affectionately call “characters”—all through the creative process. I’ve come to love first person POV, because it’s such an intimate experience to delve into the mind of someone else. In my current series Fae-Tales, characters slip into “skins” of others and this is very much what I do as an author. But this is also what makes writing in the first person POV very challenging. Writing from the single point of view or even multiple points of views is as limited as the person we are trying to portray. For instance, one of my characters experiences the world very narrowly: sounds, colors and smells just aren’t that relevant or noticeable to him (this is borrowed from my husband who processes stimuli very differently than I do. My senses are always engaged and in technicolor vividness). So writing from such a character’s POV will be less vivid, which some readers find too gray. If you write from the perspective of flawed characters, unreliable narrators, villainous heroes or just plain weak or wicked characters, the world you describe is colored by their experience and their perspective which can be very off-putting and for some people downright upsetting. We want to be in the hero’s skin and not in the mind of the wicked protagonist or twisted lover’s perspective. It’s a challenge and an adventure to be able to write from the first person POV and stay true to the character without compromising the character’s voice which is often confused with the author’s voice but is definitely not the same thing. I hope you have a chance to read my books. Not all my stories will be palatable, because like in sleep, some dreams aren’t sweet ones—they are nightmares!