Why I like to write "crazy"

As an aspiring writer, I’m beginning to find inspiration in the oddest places. I was under the impression I would need to go to the right places, hang out with the right people or be in the right environment to become inspired, but I’ve found that none of those things really matter. I’ve come to the conclusion that inspiration is something that is deep inside of us, trapped in the cages of our souls like starving, wild animals who will jump at the first chance at freedom. The only way that animal can be pardoned is for you to do it yourself; you’re the judge and jury, you hold the key to the dark cell within you and it is your responsibility, your duty, to let it roam free. The creature inside of me has been laying dormant for a long time but it is not fueled by food or its own will to survive, it’s bolstered by insanity.

I can see you rolling your eyes at this statement, but allow me to explain. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been drawn to characters who begin as normal, functioning human beings living ordinary or socially acceptable lives until something happens that changes them. It could be a traumatic experience, such as Harvey Dent, a.k.a. Two Face in The Dark Night, isolation and frustration like Jack Torrance in The Shining, or just being fed up with the world like The Narrator in Fight Club, I loved watching these characters evolve from respectable people to the psychotic and sometimes senseless individuals who wreak havoc on their families or the world at large. These type of characters have dimension and depth that can’t be compared to your average “sane” character, and add so much to a story that would average without them. So, when I started to write my own manuscript, my goal was to have my main character slowly lose his mind and walk the reader down his path to insanity.

The story begins with a seemingly normal college student, who after leaving school for a year, thrusts himself back into a world that isn’t quite the way he remembered. He feels a tremendous amount of pressure to right the wrongs he had created but is plagued by nightmares and a rouge deer who seems to be stalking him, forcing him to witness its body slowly decaying at every meeting. There is also a cute, redhead girl named Chloe who berates him and every opportunity for reasons Eric is unsure of, but his best friend Justin is trying to make sure they wind up together. All of the fear and pressure is weighing down on him and causes him to slowly lose touch with reality as he begins his decent into insanity, while his friends and girlfriend, Birdie, are doing all they can to steer him on they path they think is best for him. It culminates into a maze of uncertainty for Eric, when he finally snaps and has to make a choice that will effect him and those around him for his remaining days.

Morphing this character into a psycho had been a lot of fun, and is the foundation for the writing I want to produce; horror without all the gore. To me, the human psyche is one of the most terrifying attributes of people, as it can make us unpredictable and unaware of our actions. And that’s a lot scarier than a vampire or a zombie because it’s real. Or maybe I’m just crazy…