The Call of Cassandra
Characters choose the most inconvenient times to dominate one's life.
Picture the scene, if you will:
I sit quietly in front of my laptop, tap-tapping away on a rather difficult paper about Origen of Alexandria and his interpretation of Scripture in the second and third century C.E.. Just as I am getting down to the nitty-gritty of why Origen actually had a decent grasp of logic, a young woman of about sixteen with black hair and dreamy hazel eyes starts poking me in the shoulder with the point of her fountain pen. I brush her away irritably, but she insists. The girl whispers in my ear:
"Just so you know, my favorite color is green and my favorite magazine is Scientific Wizard Weekly."
My concentration is broken. Cassandra has struck again.
It is very difficult to work on school projects when Cassandra is looking over my shoulder. She is constantly coming up with interesting things to tell me. Some of these tidbits are relevant to the story I'm writing about her, some are not, but all of them fascinate me and reveal more about her and the world she lives in. While I'm grateful for the information, I don't always have time to tear myself away from my homework in order to jot down every little detail. I have my notebook nearby, but I usually have to finish this paper/read this work/do this other thing before I can write down the ethereal whispers she bestows upon my brain. However, if I don't write down her revelations within a certain amount of time, she starts poking me. That's the only way to describe it. She's patient up to a certain point, but she's also very persistent. She really doesn't understand why school papers are so important.
Cassandra came into my life on November 2, and she promptly usurped all other story ideas. Every bit of creative writing that I have done since November 2 has revolved around her, her personality, her world, her parents, her interests, and her adventures in magical research. You would think that such a quiet young lady would be more reserved, but she can be quite stubborn when she wants to be. While this is all quite wonderful, and I am pleased to welcome her into the craziness that is my creative mind, it is also highly inconvenient. I have two short papers due on Tuesday and one longer paper due on Monday, and I haven't gotten very far on any of them. Cassandra, on the other hand, has received 13 handwritten pages of notes. I think she's trying to drive me insane. That, or she wants me to fail my classes so that I will be forced to write for a living.
Since I have so many writers for friends, I figured that most of the people who read this journal would understand my plight. Share your stories, do: Which characters of yours have attempted to take over your life? How did you subdue them? I would appreciate any tips.
Picture the scene, if you will:
I sit quietly in front of my laptop, tap-tapping away on a rather difficult paper about Origen of Alexandria and his interpretation of Scripture in the second and third century C.E.. Just as I am getting down to the nitty-gritty of why Origen actually had a decent grasp of logic, a young woman of about sixteen with black hair and dreamy hazel eyes starts poking me in the shoulder with the point of her fountain pen. I brush her away irritably, but she insists. The girl whispers in my ear:
"Just so you know, my favorite color is green and my favorite magazine is Scientific Wizard Weekly."
My concentration is broken. Cassandra has struck again.
It is very difficult to work on school projects when Cassandra is looking over my shoulder. She is constantly coming up with interesting things to tell me. Some of these tidbits are relevant to the story I'm writing about her, some are not, but all of them fascinate me and reveal more about her and the world she lives in. While I'm grateful for the information, I don't always have time to tear myself away from my homework in order to jot down every little detail. I have my notebook nearby, but I usually have to finish this paper/read this work/do this other thing before I can write down the ethereal whispers she bestows upon my brain. However, if I don't write down her revelations within a certain amount of time, she starts poking me. That's the only way to describe it. She's patient up to a certain point, but she's also very persistent. She really doesn't understand why school papers are so important.
Cassandra came into my life on November 2, and she promptly usurped all other story ideas. Every bit of creative writing that I have done since November 2 has revolved around her, her personality, her world, her parents, her interests, and her adventures in magical research. You would think that such a quiet young lady would be more reserved, but she can be quite stubborn when she wants to be. While this is all quite wonderful, and I am pleased to welcome her into the craziness that is my creative mind, it is also highly inconvenient. I have two short papers due on Tuesday and one longer paper due on Monday, and I haven't gotten very far on any of them. Cassandra, on the other hand, has received 13 handwritten pages of notes. I think she's trying to drive me insane. That, or she wants me to fail my classes so that I will be forced to write for a living.
Since I have so many writers for friends, I figured that most of the people who read this journal would understand my plight. Share your stories, do: Which characters of yours have attempted to take over your life? How did you subdue them? I would appreciate any tips.