Charlie Hicks – Author

So last night I was still up at 2 am writing away on my next novel. And I looked at how much I had achieved since 10 pm. It was a bit shocking; I had completed 3 whole chapters, yet my mind was still racing away. That hamster was definitely going for on its wheel last night. But the strange thing was even though my mind was still fertile and raring to go, my body said to me. Listen up buster you’re not in your 20’s any longer, get some sleep or else.

So, this morning after the dog insisted, I get out of bed so she could take my nice warm place for herself. (There is an Irony in this somewhere, but I buggered if I can find it.) I walked into the kitchen and made myself a cup of tea, safe in the knowledge that my dog was happily asleep on my part of the bed. On opening and shutting the fridge door, low and behold there she was sitting there, waiting with the Cat sitting next to her. It was like I had operated some mysterious teleportation device only known to Cats and Dogs. In my bleary haze from working late last night, I smiled and ignored them both. Surely if they can teleport to the kitchen in the blink of an eye, they can also work out how to open said fridge.

This got me thinking about a possible storyline where Cats and Dogs traverse the world using a secret network of teleportation fridges. (See I told you I was tired). Yes, I know it’s a load of nonsense, but what I’m trying to convey here albeit very poorly, it that there are story opportunities everywhere. We just need to let our minds go for it. To not be afraid of going of at the deep end and seeing if the story will sink or swim. I have a notebook full of such bonkers ideas. In actual fact my next book is one of those bonkers ideas.

But the best thing about it, is that it doesn’t feel like work, it feels like I’m having fun letting my imagination go wild and free range. It is very liberating to write like this. Not giving a real damn about the final outcome, just exploring the realm of possibilities; letting the preverbal hamster go free-range.

And as I finish today’s blog I keep coming back to the underlying thought. Our writing doesn’t always have to be dull, sad, full of despair, it can also be a tool which makes someone sitting on a train or a bus, burst out laughing uncontrollably for no apparent reason to those around them.

And so, I will leave you with a quote that has resonated with me from the late, great Robin Williams; “I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy. Because they know what it feels like to feel absolutely worthless and they don’t want anybody else to feel like that.”