09 December 2012

You Only Live Twice

It’s Bond, James Bond season again. I have an album of the songs from the movies, and when I listened recently this song jumped out at me.


You only live twice
Or so it seems
One life for yourself
And one for your dreams

As writers, we can definitely identify with this. We live parallel lives in our waking dreams (at least I know I do!). As you live out your real life, at the same time your imagination is carrying on a fantasy... creating another universe, which can seem just as real – sometimes more so. If you have more than one story on the go at once, or even just multiple POV characters, it can seem like three or more lives!

It’s funny when you think about it – as you go about your business, no-one knows the rich worlds you are dwelling in in your mind, the characters you love as if they weren’t just figments of your imagination. It's a delicious secret, and though it may seem mad to others, perhaps this second life is what keeps us sane!

How much of your thought-life is in your real life, versus your second, writer's life?

2 comments:

  1. I just finished reading The Music of James Bond where they talk, among other things, about the lyrics.

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