Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Stay Tuned...In Your Mind

When I was young, I watched a lot of TV. I learned so much: how to say “cerrado” from Sesame Street, how to fix family crises in less than thirty minutes and how to solve crimes wearing a bikini. Hey, it was the 1970s.

Maybe it’s because I was an only child for most of those years, but I spent a lot of time thinking about the characters I discovered on TV and in books. I wondered what they did in life beyond the scope of one show or a few classics. Did Nancy Drew grow up to be Nancy Grace? Is Encyclopedia Brown a dot-com millionaire recluse? Did Jack Tripper ever achieve his dreams, or is he now managing an Olive Garden and spending way too much time at night on Internet poker sites? Did Bruce Banner find a cure for his Hulkiness and go into the fashion business designing rip-proof distressed jeans?

When I’m stressed out from the freelance life of interviews and deadlines, my mind floats off to all those characters and what they might be doing now. Some people meditate, I create whole new worlds for Bigfoot and the Six Million Dollar Man to continue the passionate friendship frowned upon by so many small-minded people.

Overactive imagination. Just one of the perks of being a writer.

Are there characters you still think about long after the book or show is over?

4 comments:

Patti Wigington said...

OMG - when I was about ten, I wrote out a lengthy bit of fanfic about Harriet the Spy. Harriet grew up, went to college to study archaeology, changed her name to Hari and had all kinds of really cool adventures. She was kind of a seventies version of Lara Croft.

But she always had that hooded sweatshirt and the notebook :)

Anonymous said...

Love how our creative minds work. I don't draw upon characters, but I do still daydream about imaginary adventures and make up characters that might help me to handle the stress I am going through. Great post!

Unknown said...

So glad I'm not the only one! Thanks for stopping by, the echo was getting to me. ;)

Kappa no He said...

We're totally around the same age. I remember all those TV people. I use to imagine what my hut would look like if I lived on Gilligan's Island and what I'd buy if I was a Beverly Hillbilly. (okay...maybe I'm older?)