So today, I’m going to do something out of the norm.  I’m going to discuss an idea that I will write within the next couple of weeks.  Meaning, I’m actually going to write some fiction! Seriously!  My writing group has been meeting for a couple of months now and it’s reaching the point where I should try to produce something rather than simply drink other people’s wine, eat cookies and share my wisdom.  Side note: in case you’re wondering what I, who has no creative writing experience beyond the class where I met these people, offer the group, it’s this: the perspective of a random person who feels like reading a story. 🙂  In other words, I choose to critique as a consumer, asking, if I purchased a book/magazine that included this piece of fiction, what would I think? Would I be satisfied? Confused? Bored? Distracted by factual errors?  I do this because, despite studying History and Literature, I don’t like to provide, like, deep literary analysis.  When I read fiction, I’m looking for an enjoyable experience.  What I’m saying is,  I’m not looking to study and analyze fiction anymore, I just want to think and feel. Lalala.

But back to THE IDEA.  Basically, I’m thinking about writing a short story from the point of view of an addict.  Not because I’m an addict (I’m not), and not because Whitney Houston’s death made me cry (it did).  Rather, as I lived my life (aka my research),  I’ve had the reoccurring sense that being in love is like an addiction.  I know what love is like, so can I use that experience to write a story about, you know, substance abuse? We’ll see. Don’t get me wrong—I love love.  But it does essentially require one to, in many ways, prioritize something else over themselves.  Typically this is a positive thing, which is why relationships and families are wonderful.  However, love, or the idea of losing love (much like drugs/alcohol or the idea of losing drugs/alcohol), can make people do some pretty crazy things: they may stop doing the activities they enjoy, alienate themselves from friends and family, quit their jobs, go against their core convictions or beliefs, spend crazy amounts of money, etc.  In extreme cases, they are willing to endure physical abuse to their bodies or even die! And, of course, once someone has decided quit, there are the withdrawal symptoms.  Trying to recover from addiction (be it to a substance or a person), one endures stress, weight loss, anxiety, among other things.  They have their good days and their bad days, and require a tremendous amount of strength to stay away from things that may send them spiraling back down the wrong path.  In the case of love that might avoiding a specific, toxic person rather than staying away from love itself (although, I do believe people run into problems when try to avoid deep relationships altogether).  So that’s something I plan to explore.  We’ll see how it goes.  Later dudes!