Mere Coincidence

Coincidence? Serendipity? Fate?

Is it coincidence that we write what we know? I always find myself writing about subjects that I’m familiar with. Whether it is spirituality, the cosmic world or plants and animals; I’m always writing what is familiar to me.

Even names for my characters are chosen because I find myself accustomed to them. Places I’ve been and explored all come out in my writing. But I have to say, some of my writing has had a psychic aura to them.

I’ve written a story (which I’m revising but not changing any of the premonitory factors.) My character winds up in Broken Bow Nebraska after her husband passes away. I wrote this story, all thirty three chapters of it, three years ago. I’m finding so many similarities now in my present life, I’m wondering if it was all coincidence or a precognitive thought that I relayed into a story.

I was living in Texas (after separating from my husband), but now I’m in Nebraska, extremely close to Broken Bow. (you’ll have to read the haunting story of Angel when it gets published.) I was going to title it Mere Coincidence but changed my mind and I think I’m going with Crossroads. But after realizing how much coincidence lies within the pages, it might just be titled Mere Coincidence.

When we write, we do our research, we create new characters and we forge ahead with a story. It can become quite ironic when your story begins to correlate to your real life. I try not to write too much of my real life in a fictional tale but little slithers of my life will filter through into my characters or incidence's in my life will weave their way in and out of my story like a car in traffic.

I envy people who can write about pioneer times when they have no concrete physical knowledge of the times; only what was read about or learned. I read these tales with great interest and I’m always wondering what experience the author had with the story they wrote. Sometimes it’s a story handed down from generation to generation and sometimes it’s just a matter of really good researching.

Stephen King, as you may have already guessed is one of my favorite author’s, is also a writer whose life slips into his stories. He may deny it, but when I read “On Writing”, I saw the similarities of many of his characters well defined in people and places in his life. Even though Castle Rock Maine is a fictional town, it is no coincidence it is in Maine, his home state!

My point in all this being, write what you know and what you don’t know. Someday, what you thought you didn’t know may become an experience that you’re all too familiar with and you’ve written about it before hand and are now “in the know.”

Did that make sense?

Of course it did. If it didn’t, it will one day. :-)