The Bewitching, How it Started Part 2

At some point it seemed I had written all I could think of in terms of relationships. Maybe I just became bored writing about the problems I saw in those relationships. I wanted to apply it to film, or to the scenes I use to write in classes, with my new understanding of human nature. I wanted a challenge and to see how deeply I could affect someone with what I wrote. I believe it was the famous actress Uta Hagen who once said that it was easy to get applause as an artist. To actually touch or connect with someone when performing in a way that you can bring tears to their eyes was a whole different challenge. When you do, that’s when you know you’re doing something right.

Writing of course has the same challenges. In my eyes it’s what separates a good writer from a great one. It’s what I hope I am, and what I hope to be. I wanted to do it differently though. Most of the scenes I had written for acting classes were sad. I asked myself what would be another indicator of affecting people emotionally. At the same time, what would be a challenge to write? I wanted to do something I’ve never done before.

I thought it’d be interesting to write a short erotic story. I can’t remember exactly why that came to mind. Maybe it was through some of the relationship discussions I had with women that wandered lightly into that territory, and a few of them mentioning having read such stories that they enjoyed. To have an effect on someone in that way, through words alone I thought would be quite a feat. It was also something I hadn’t attempted before. It would be a challenge to write something for women that was erotic and yet not vulgar or offensive. The idea intrigued me as it’s such a difficult balance to find with women.

Several days later I had completed the story. I hesitantly posted it on a blog. I can still remember cringing as I posted it. I was afraid of looking like a deviant in some of my readers eyes even though it wasn’t as graphically descriptive, or pushing the limits, as some similar writers do in their books. I can’t begin to explain how hard it is to think of non-vulgar sounding words that describe human anatomy in a way that’s attractive. Although, my wording was likely tame by todays standards with books such as 50 Shades of Grey.

Even though it was only a few pages long, I actually received a few great comments on it. I also received a few emails that told me the effect I was wondering if I could create through words had actually done just that. Surprisingly, there was no hate mail or mention of being a deviant to my relief. I sometimes wonder if I had started writing it at this point in time with 50 Shades of Grey being so popular, if I would have had the same cringing worries or carefulness in wording with the story. It’s odd how the openness and acceptance of society to such writings changes so quickly over time. Like acting, I would encourage any writer to write about what makes them uncomfortable. It opens so many doors in becoming comfortable in ones own skin and realizing that society isn’t always as harsh as we think it is. With that comfortableness comes confidence and awareness which is one of the most valuable assets to any artist. Between that and the positive responses, I began thinking more about the possibilities of actually writing a longer story.

The Bewitching, How it Started Part 2

The Bewitching, How it Started Part 1

When writing or doing anything creative, one of my odd curiosities with people who are successful has always been to wonder, “How did they get started?,” or “Where did the idea come from?” I think to some extent it might be normal for most of us, but particularly for those of us wanting to be actors and writers, or for any of us interested in the more artistic forms of expression. Maybe we’re wondering how to get started, or we’ve struggled for years and can’t seem to get anywhere so we look to how others began their careers. With the arts, and those who are well-known, their lives are out there for us to read through, and to see how they made a name for themselves. There’s that hope in us that maybe through them, or there experiences, we can discover a path there for ourselves to copy or modify in our own way.

When I started The Bewitching I had already been writing for several years. Originally it was scenes for theatre classes where we were encouraged to write characters different from ourselves. As an actor it helped in seeing the quirks of characters and understanding how our written characters possessed traits we did not. Somehow this lead to some interesting philosophical discussions between myself and others from the class. Later it evolved into spiritual discussions not much different from ideas brought forth in the film The Secret, or even talks about time and space. These were things I had found interesting long before then. Talking to those who had a bit more knowledge only lead to making it all the more intriguing to me.

It wasn’t long after that I fell into what I’d consider my first real relationship. When that relationship ended, as most do, I found myself moving from writing scenes for an acting class to writing blogs. With relationships, particularly ones we hold closely, when they end we begin to question the “why’s”. We ask ourselves the “what ifs,” we begin reading, or find some outlet or way to understand. Life experience opens so many doors into these questions when we care to learn the answers. It’s one thing to read about something, but to live it and begin seeing how these things relate to life is amazing.

You start seeing those relationships in films. If you’re a little crazy like me you start thinking of all the ways it could have played out, or the motivations behind it. Good becomes evil. Evil becomes good. All these layers start materializing in terms of the different reasons people do things. It’s not much different from a painter who will paint the same color over and over to build up a piece of work, or musicians who’ll layer music over and over. You start realizing that as much as each creative work in a particular area is done in a certain way, that almost every area of life is composed of the same elements played out in a different fashion.

More importantly, we may start to see the ripples and effects these thoughts and actions have on others. This is what I wrote about. For each difference I’d see in people, for each discussion I may have overheard that gave me ideas, I also began to see the many similarities. I saw how people were drawn to each other through these experiences. The fun thing about writing blogs was that I began getting readers and people commenting which opened up even more discussions. It wasn’t much different from the high one can get on stage when people began to express what they “felt” while reading your work. That is the most amazing feeling…

The Bewitching, How it Started Part 1