By Darvell Hunt
Consider this list:
IBM PC110 mini-laptop computer
White Gameboy Advance with games
Various Nintendo 64 games
Two remote-controlled mini-cars
A mini-DVD recorder/MP3 player
Wal-Mart Mountain Bike
Wooden coffee table
5-gallon gas can full of gasoline (at about $3.50 per gallon)
HP TX1000Z notebook computer
All of the above personal items were stolen from me in the past ten years. The first item in the list was taken from me in 1998 and the last item was just a few weeks ago. And, sadly enough, I could add to this list if I went back further than ten years.
For last week’s blog, I wrote about using life’s experiences as source material for writing ideas, but I’m still trying to figure out how to use being a victim of crime in my writing.
Good writing is generally created with passion, and I must admit that I have considerable passion about losing the above items to other people who apparently believe they deserve my things more than I do. I suppose that passion is exhibited more as anger, than anything else, though, and I’m not sure that anger is a good source of emotion for writing. I think it might be, but I haven’t yet learned how to channel that anger into something creative.
I think there is value in almost every experience we go through in life, including being victimized. We end up becoming the sum of our experiences. I suppose I could write how my reliance upon material things has affected my life and how I’ve reacted over the years to suddenly having my belongings taken from my possession. Perhaps I could even consider writing a crime novel, or some other sort of creative writing that doesn’t directly involve the anger I feel, yet involves my experiences of being a victim of theft.
Anyway, I’m still working with the police on the last item in my list, which came up missing about two weeks ago. I think I know who took it, but proving that is another matter. Since the computer was stolen from my desk at work in a secure area, the list of suspects is greatly reduced. And, fortunately, due to my paranoia of losing electronic data, I didn’t lose much that can’t be replaced; I'm thankful for that.
I suppose I can find out “who dunnit” and make the thieves pay—if only in my
fiction. I could write about what I think happened and send the thieving criminals off to jail—if I'm in a good mood that is, and worse pounishment if I'm not. I’m curious if writing something like that would give me any satisfaction. Is fictional revenge sweet? Perhaps I'll find out soon.
Consider this list:
IBM PC110 mini-laptop computer
White Gameboy Advance with games
Various Nintendo 64 games
Two remote-controlled mini-cars
A mini-DVD recorder/MP3 player
Wal-Mart Mountain Bike
Wooden coffee table
5-gallon gas can full of gasoline (at about $3.50 per gallon)
HP TX1000Z notebook computer
All of the above personal items were stolen from me in the past ten years. The first item in the list was taken from me in 1998 and the last item was just a few weeks ago. And, sadly enough, I could add to this list if I went back further than ten years.
For last week’s blog, I wrote about using life’s experiences as source material for writing ideas, but I’m still trying to figure out how to use being a victim of crime in my writing.
Good writing is generally created with passion, and I must admit that I have considerable passion about losing the above items to other people who apparently believe they deserve my things more than I do. I suppose that passion is exhibited more as anger, than anything else, though, and I’m not sure that anger is a good source of emotion for writing. I think it might be, but I haven’t yet learned how to channel that anger into something creative.
I think there is value in almost every experience we go through in life, including being victimized. We end up becoming the sum of our experiences. I suppose I could write how my reliance upon material things has affected my life and how I’ve reacted over the years to suddenly having my belongings taken from my possession. Perhaps I could even consider writing a crime novel, or some other sort of creative writing that doesn’t directly involve the anger I feel, yet involves my experiences of being a victim of theft.
Anyway, I’m still working with the police on the last item in my list, which came up missing about two weeks ago. I think I know who took it, but proving that is another matter. Since the computer was stolen from my desk at work in a secure area, the list of suspects is greatly reduced. And, fortunately, due to my paranoia of losing electronic data, I didn’t lose much that can’t be replaced; I'm thankful for that.
I suppose I can find out “who dunnit” and make the thieves pay—if only in my
fiction. I could write about what I think happened and send the thieving criminals off to jail—if I'm in a good mood that is, and worse pounishment if I'm not. I’m curious if writing something like that would give me any satisfaction. Is fictional revenge sweet? Perhaps I'll find out soon.
3 comments:
I killed my mother-in-law in a short story.
Still smiling over that.
That's awesome, Anna. Well, not that murder is awesome, but that fiction CAN provide emotional release, as I was suggesting.
Thanks for commenting. Don't let that smile fade!
How about filing the feeling aways and giving them to a charactor? all the things that happen to us get filed away. then a writer brings the feelings out and gives them to their creations. Good blog. sorry for your loss.
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