Chapter 1.6: My Imagination Says I Can. Reality Says Hell No

Have you ever finished watching a movie or reading a book (or writing a story for that matter) and said to yourself "I totally want to be a demon slayer/journalist/wedding planner/auto mechanic"? I do this all the time.

For example, when I was writing my latest NaNoWriMo novel, I kept saying to myself, "Wow, I should totally learn about cars. That sounds like such a neat thing." I of course then had to keep reminding myself, "You are not a mechanical person. And you would get bored and then start annoying people." Which of course would totally happen. My brain is not hardwired for a special interest in cars. I pretty much classify vehicles as car, van, truck, or SUV and when taken to car shows I go "Ooo, shiny. I'm going to go read now."

Or when I read one of the Night Huntress novels by Jeaniene Frost (fantastic books. First one is Halfway to the Grave). I always put it down and I'm like "I should take up martial arts so I can be awesome and fight evil when it comes for me. As it inevitably will because I know too much. Or I'm nosy, whichever comes first." In real life, I am a 5'2" couch potato who weighs a little under 115 pounds and can get winded walking from her dorm to the other side of campus. True, I'm fast walking, and yes, size doesn't truly matter when it comes to defense, but the initial dilemma remains the same. I most likely wouldn't apply myself to the regimen it takes to be good. I took Bowling as a PE credit because all I had to do was go bowling twice a week which never required me to be particularly active.

I recently rewatched Confessions of A Shopaholic (which is a really sweet movie) and wanted to be a columnist. I wanted to write witty things that entertained people and maybe gave them advice. Never mind I didn't know what I would write about. I just wanted to be given a topic and find a way to write it in a creative way. Kind of like what I do with my blog I suppose.

I think this may be one of the marks of a good story. You've gotten so sucked into it that you want to be the main character. Not in an obsessive, unhealthy way, but in a way that make you feel warm and fuzzy and optimistic. Maybe it doesn't last long, or maybe you actually end up going and doing something about it. Maybe you finish a book with a kickbox champion heroine and decide to take a class at the community college. Maybe you watch a movie about cheer camp and grab yourself a pair of pom poms just to have some fun. Or maybe you're content to leave the hero or heroine in the spotlight, happy for the time you shared with them.

So what about you? Have you ever had this feeling of wanting to do something because of a movie or book? Who was it and did anything come of it or were you content to leave it to the hero(ine)? As for myself, I'm off to look at martial arts classes. What? Anything can happen :D