The Magical Rule of Writing

Well, I'm having another one of those off days... I'm not sick, per-say, but my brain won't focus to start writing something with meaning. Which is a rather ironic sentence to write, as I'm now moving toward something with meaning. I think I've finally stared at the bland "New Post" section for long enough that my subconscious has totally overruled my ordinary conscious, resulting in me being able to write again.

Funny how that works at night...

There are a couple of strange things about writing that happen for me. Like, whenever I force myself to write (which is pretty rare) I just can't do it - anything that I do write is terrible. So I end up only writing when I feel like it. This, in turn, leads to massive breaks in time where I write nothing and basically be lazy. That's why it took me 4 years to finish my first book... though completely re-writing it 3 times didn't help, either.

Happily, this first rule can be overruled by the Magical Connection of the Ability to Write with the Control of the Subconscious Over the Functions of the Body (which is usually shortened to just "the Magical Rule of Writing). In short, I can write well whenever my subconscious is in a heightened state of control. In layman's terms, whenever I'm half-asleep. That's why I get 75% of my work done between the hours of 10 PM and 2 AM. It's like a little magical switch turns on, and suddenly I know what to write... even if it's never more than a sentence at a time.

One of the subsets of the Magical Rule is the Rebel Rule. This basically says that "the quality of material written is directly proportional to its irrelevancy to the class James is currently pretending he is taking notes for". Now, part of this may be because I'm also half-asleep in most classes, but also because of my history and my natural rebel spirit. I was always a bad kid... (Just ask Lauren or Ashley or my Mom or Mrs. Murphree. They'll tell you loooots of horror stories about me...) and as a result, I've still got a rebel streak. But I also really learned how to start writing as a pass time to keep me awake in 8th grade bible class.

Now, don't get me wrong, I normally love Bible class. It's always been one of my favorites. But in 8th grade... well, there's really only one way to say it. It was horrible. The teacher had the magical ability to literally put us all to sleep using only the sound of his voice. The only way to combat it was to occupy yourself with something - talking to the person behind you, doodling mindlessly, etc. It was there that I first came up with the idea for Nightbane. As a result, not paying attention in class to write my books still holds a very dear place in my heart...

And, you know, I really just don't like paying attention.

Sincerely,

James' Subconscious

Composer of the Epics, Teller of the Tales of the War of the Compass, Knower of Things Unknown, etc, etc.