Boy, do I miss the days when I could just read books like any other reader would. When I could watch TV like a regular couch potato. When I could go to the movies and just get lost in the special effects while chewing on a Twizzler.
Those days are long gone.
Ever since I started writing seriously again three years ago, I've been ruining my own entertainment, because I now suffer from a serious case of Writer's Brain. Take TV, for instance. I can't get through an episode of Criminal Minds without questioning the believability of FBI profilers actually making arrests in SWAT-like formation. I can't get through an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit without predicting the backstory of both the victim and the rapist. And I definitely can't watch an episode of CSI without wondering why on earth Marg Helgenberger is wearing stilettos to a crime scene.
I never used to be this way. I used to stare in rapt attention at the screen – be it big or small – and lose myself in the story. I could almost always suspend my disbelief. But now? I analyze everything. I often figure out the ending to the movie thirty minutes in. I'm finding it very hard to be surprised.
It's the same way with books. Even when reading published books, I mentally edit as I go. I pause at a poignant sentence and, instead of marveling at its complexity and richness, I wonder how I'd rewrite it if this were my story. If I'm reading a novel written in the third person, I count the number of POVs and compare it to my own book. I analyze dialogue tags. I question the presence of each and every adverb. I compare every author's villain to my villain.
And it's not just fiction. Writer's Brain affects real life stuff, too. The other week, I was watching some reality show about animal hoarding, and they featured an elderly woman who had 85 cats. She could barely feed them all. Her house was disgusting. They found piles of cat feces under her sofa, along with the bones of a kitten who'd obviously died there. The woman had her cats taken away, and I couldn't help but think it would have been so much cooler if they had lifted up that sofa and found the old woman's bones there.
I know. It's so wrong.
I'm not sure there's a cure for Writer's Brain, other than to stop writing, which of course is not an acceptable solution. Do you guys suffer from Writer's Brain, and if so, how do you manage it?
13 comments:
Funny! Writer's brain is an occupational hazard!
Jennifer - All the time. It's unescapeable. And, now, when I do find a sentence I fall in love with, I can't continue the story. I pause, underline and bookmark the page. Then, I reread how the author led up to that SENTENCE or that SCENE. It's how this writers' brain learns.
Oh yeah! And I have to say, it sucks knowing a stories ending when you want to live in suspense!
BUT when you see something or read something and your writer brain turns itself off, you can really appreciate the magic that's been created!
Here's what you do - let your mind go to mush "before" you watch TV or read a book.
As a former forensic anthropologist *and* a writer, there is so much crime TV that I cannot sit and watch without analyzing and gritting my teeth.
Oh man, writer brain is a huge issue for me. I'm totally rewriting THE SHINING as I read and that's no good. On the other hand, everything is a learning opportunity - to become a better writer, to get to know yourself better, etc. When I can suspend that constant analysis, though, it's pure magic (as JB said).
It is very easy to impress me so imagine my annoyance when a movie or book cannot even make it across the low standard I have set for it and has to make my Writer's brain work.
It's so rare for me to find a book or a movie good enough that I lose myself in it now. I definitely have Writer's brain!
All the time. I try to turn off my writer's brain, and sometimes it works. When I'm watching TV or a movie, I can usually turn it off and just get lost in the story. But I have a difficult time being able to do the same when I'm reading. In some ways, I still can, but in others, I'm like you - constantly analyzing and comparing. It's exhausting!
Or her HUSBAND'S bones!!! I have this same problem except for Criminal Minds because HELLO...they are awesome.lol
Be careful though, Hoarders is seriously addicting. It can lead to all sorts of strange behavior, like cleaning out your extra bedroom. Craziness.
With diet and exercise any condition can be controlled.
Actually, I'm like you in that I spend a lot of time analysing the shows I watch and the scripts I see and there've been moments when I've driven myself crazy because I wanted to just watch the film! but my inner writer wouldn't shut up.
I'm now at a point where I love my writer's brain. It helps me notice things I wouldn't have noticed otherwise and think of funny things that make me enjoy a story more.
Jai
It's funny, I thought that a vacation would help calm my case of Writer's Brain right down. NOT SO! Having free time to read just made me that much more hyper-aware of a story.
But I'm working on it. The over-analysis is draining and I miss being entertained.
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