Livin La Vita Mocha

This could be the caffeine talking, so forgive me.

A few days ago I mentioned using a hypnotist to help me remember winning lottery numbers, (like you do) and began thinking.

The brain is an amazing organic computer, and scientists still aren't clear on exactly how it functions or how consciousness works.

It's clear that my brain has a lot going on that I'm not consciously aware of. Let's say I'm chatting with Cindy and during our conversation, I try to use an example. But I can't recall the name.

"It's the name of a book, it was written by that guy, with you know, the eyebrows. Older guy. Wrote that book about that small town."

And despite all my efforts, I can't recall the name of the book or the author. Since we're out at a restaurant, I can't exactly hop online and research the answer.

By the time we get home, I've 'forgotten' all about it. But my brain has not. The query has been sent to Long Term Retrieval in the dusty Archives section. Two days later, as I'm typing up a report at work, I get this DING! of memory arrival, and it's almost imperative that I say out loud "Bike Path in Passamaquady, by Grant Morgenstern"!

~~~~~

There is an interesting phenomenon I've detected when it comes to short stories and half-finished novels. When I stop working on a writing project, and then pick it up again later, the characters look up at me in surprise.

"Um, excuse me." They say, in that disgusted teenager tone. Yeah, they're brats, but they're my kids, so I have to take the blame.

I say "Yeah, sorry." In the way parents can say that and not mean it, because it's their house and they made you - yea verily - from eggs and sperm and you'll just have to suck it up.

Then I say "So we're going to get back to the story."

The character rolls their eyes, like I just told them we're going camping with Aunt Gertie.

But I continue, since I want to avoid a fight. "So yeah, you were about to tell Captain Oolongh why trying to ship raw quantium through The Jade Badlands of Kraaal is a bad idea...Wait. Are you water-skiing?"

"Yeeeah." Hello, Dad are you mental?

"I didn't know you could water ski."

"Well you left me alone for a year and a half, what did you expect?"

"What else have you been up to? Dating? Sleeping around? You're supposed to be a virgin."

"Oops." I'm so not sorry.

"What are we supposed to tell the readers?"

Evil smirk: "What readers?"

"That's it!" I snarl. I snap my fingers, and the lake, the boat and the water ski's are gone. The character is now back where I left them, in the cargo hold with Captain Oolongh.

It's odd, but once you create them, they exist. Your brain is meant to process information, and it does. Hopefully I'm not alone in this, and other writers return to characters to find them changed.

This is likely just the result of changes in me, since every character is just an iteration of myself. But, water-skiing? Who knew?