James' 3rd Blog - Fueling the Imagination: Balancing Creativity with Reality in Storytelling

Albert Einstein once said that imagination is the greatest force in the universe. And I agree with him! I've had an active imagination ever since I was a little boy. I'm not saying I'm a genius or even close to one. But I can look at almost anything and see stories and worlds and people and adventures.

When I was little kid, I noticed that the various people who were allowed to hunt on our farm with shotguns left their empty shells on the property. So I used to gather up these shells to use as toys and props. They became trees, robots, outer space beings, whenever I needed a bad guy, or an object, there they were.

Using your imagination is important, but you have to feed your imagination. I'm not talking about what you eat, for food feeds your brain. But your imagination is a gift, a unique part of your being. A tool, perhaps. Definitely a skill. Part of who and what you are.

So, what feeds your imagination? Imagines, sounds, music, bugs, spiders, movies, books, people, experiences. Everything.

Sometimes, when I'm writing a story, new ideas come to me. If it's late at night, I get up and write them. If during the day, at work for instance, or in the shower, I stuff them in little boxes in my memory and revisit them when I have the time.

Sometimes, my wife can hear me talking in the shower, where I rehearse a dialogue for my characters. It's good to speak dialogue aloud, because it aids you in finding out whether it seems natural or foolish and fake. So, listening to how people talk is another way to feed your imagination.

Sometimes, when I walk the empty hills of northern California in the fall and winter, I think about my characters, their victories and failings. Your characters can come to life in your imagination, but only if they are modeled in real people.

There is so much that your imagination can do for you, but it serves you best when you keep yourself in reality. Once you lose reality, that's when you lose everything.

I have ten thousand stories to tell, and I don't have enough time to tell even a tiny bit of them. But reality keeps me on the straight and narrow, for though my imagination is a powerful and wonderful tool, and even friend, it's worthless without reality. Reality is your best friend. For that's where your family and your life lives.