How I Reincarnate as a Writer – One Story at a Time

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Hello! Good to have you here!

It’s been some time since I’ve written about my writing eccentricities. My personal ones are as colorful, but I’ll save them for another day. They’re definitely not going anywhere.

Writing fiction is not just building a plot with characters. It’s getting under the skin of the story, fusing oneself with the elements, surrendering to the powerful current of thoughts and emotions.

A story has been compared to the human anatomy.

Plot is the bones, characters are the muscles, and prose is the flesh.

But I think one important aspect is often forgotten.

The distraught and harried WRITER!

Well, that may be a bit extreme.

But a sane writer may lack creative madness. And without that spark of madness, there is no fire in fiction. Burn those pages! (Metaphorically not literally, PLEASE!)

Writers are the souls of their stories. They are the spirits that breathe life into those bones, muscles, and flesh, from start to finish, liberated only at ‘THE END’. Every story has a life and a lifecycle, a journey, and once completed, writers (the souls) must move on to the next.

This can be called – The Reincarnation of a Writer.

I wouldn’t say that exactly.

Spirit sounds much better. By the way, I’m still alive.

I’ve written short stories, graphic novel scripts, short film scripts, flash fiction, quotations, two novels, currently completing the second one, and I can tell you with complete faith that I’ve evolved and reincarnated as a writer with each piece of work.

Writers don’t always write what they know. Yes, a know-how of the subject matter is essential.

Readers can’t and don’t want to be fooled.

Will someone make this guy STOP!

A story lacking life is a story that’ll suck the life out of readers. And no one wants to be bothered with such unpleasantness. The world is already a difficult place. Readers are looking to dull their surroundings and shift their focus to other interests – stories that relieve them of their own problems, even if only temporarily.

Each story I write is the beginning of a new life. And I must shoulder the responsibility of seeing this life process through.

Without a soul, a story is just a zombie.

Oh God! The other guy was better!

I’ll quickly share 5 ways I reincarnate myself with each new writing project:

1. I shift myself to the story’s time period

Now this isn’t just about collecting data and details from that particular era. All writers do that. It’s necessary for writing a convincing and authentic story.

In addition, I take myself back to those times, imagining what it would be like to live and survive in such conditions. The society, the environment, the level and evolvement of thought and communication, even the grasp and potential of human relations.

You can’t go back to the cavemen era and harbor thoughts nonspecific to those times.

Doesn’t really gel well, does it?

2. I write my stories in a particular accent.

Okay. I’m not talking about dialect or even vocabulary. It’s more than that. Every story I have ever written possesses a particular mental accent, language-wise. It could be British, American, Indian, and even Australian, though that’s a tough one. The way the words drop from my mind, their flow, and the pauses and length of the sentences, all are based on this mental accent.

Even when I read these stories back to myself, I mimic the accent in which I’ve written them.

Dear Aunty, I beg to differ. I can’t lose it if I never had it. Touché!

I’ll give you three stories. Try reading them with the accent specified.

I Only Say MEOW (British accent)

Killer Kanha Came Calling (Indian accent)

Mama Is My Savior (American accent)

Are they more flavorable?

3. I detach emotionally from my present life and circumstances.

Souls are neutral. If you’ve ever heard or read about spirituality, you’ll know that the soul is independent of feelings and judgments. It’s eternal and dons the body like a shell. Same goes for me when I write.

I discard myself, detach from my mind and body, donning the garb of my story, writing it without judgment, giving it a life of its own, independent of my personal preferences and opinions.

Who am I to stand in the way of creativity? Seriously, who?!

Okaaayyy… I’m Terveen. This is my writing blog…I think this guy totally missed the point.

4. My past writings never influence the future ones.

Now here’s where I may be deviating a bit from the concept of reincarnation.

According to certain religions, Karma plays a major role in reincarnation of the human soul.

Our souls carry baggage, the weight of good and bad deeds, from one life to another, and this influences the trajectory of every life we live.

But I can’t do this as a writer. Especially when I call myself versatile. Every new story or writing is a new beginning for me. It doesn’t bear the imprint of my previous works. The genre can change, even the writing style, and themes are as original as the uniqueness I blend into them.

A story is as innocent as a baby. It needs indifferent nurturing and attention.

Why’s he laughing? That’s awkward and SCARY!

5. I never let information go waste

Writers have to be sponges when it comes to absorbing data, theories, and information. Books, movies, conversations, speeches, the news (so morbid), passed down stories, rumors, lies, complaints, silent observations, everything must be taken in and processed.

It’s like food, please don’t waste it.

This very accumulation of knowledge and experience forms the sturdy foundation of numerous ideas. Let your imagination simmer in these ideas, and you’ll discover stories in the most unthought of places. Something can be born from almost nothing.

Even a single word or a passing thought can transform into a literary wonder.

This guy needs to chill.

And take a look at this new English hit single “Butter” by the Korean pop group BTS.

Never heard of them? Do you live under a rock?

They have shattered music records with their amazing talent and creativity and have a worldwide fan following. The group debuted this song at the Billboard Music Awards on May 23^rd.

Their music is very catchy.

The perks of having a devoted teenage fan living with you. (Downright CRAZY!)

You can watch “Butter” here:

So fellow humans and writers. (Yes, we’re a species of our own)

Reincarnate yourself with each new endeavor. Breathe new life into your work.

Try these methods. Come up with your own.

Your writing is you in a new shape and form.

It’s not really about how well you write, but how well you know yourself as a writer.

And where there’s a will, there’s always a way, and a wonderful story to be created.

How do you reincarnate? Tell me.

I wrote this piece in a particular accent. Which one? Can you guess?