Storywriting guide, Part 1: Art of Imagination

Hello, if you're here you probably kind of know who I am.

My name is Jakub Olszewski. As I'm writing this entry I am still not a published author, however, I have been writing for around ten years. As a matter of fact, I did get published once, in a book that probably doesn't exist anywhere anymore, it was some book that had a collection of stories in it written by British fourteen-year-olds. If I read it now I probably would have hated it...

But I did get better as a writer, and now that storytelling has become so natural that I come up with a story whenever something happens in my life in attempts to romanticize it and delve deeper and deeper into issues I face in life, I will provide information on how you can too very easily escape into a perfect world from depressing and uncomfortable situations, or make it even worse for yourself and imagine vivid horrible stories related to your situations that will let you in on an external view of your "character development"...

I was once told by a teacher in university that stories are tools for life... (long paragraph incoming). When I come up with stories, I always related them to my life. I always come out of my situations with the means of finding the media that will let me release my emotions, to show me characters overcoming situations worse than mine, stories that will teach me to cope and become better. While I can say that I did find some amazing pieces of media that have helped me release emotions (After Life), get motivated, (Unbroken, Naruto), and just be entertained and enthralled by something (MCU), I have to say that once coming up with scenarios in my head became a habit, I found that instead of seeking all the released media texts, I give myself my own stories to follow, and I keep adding on until I think, "I could write that!"

That's what I do, and while it's a borderline case of Maladaptive Daydreaming, it's a way of making this seemingly wasteful and unrewarding habit into something productive and uplifting.

To start off, you need to know why you want to begin writing. I got into it when I was eleven years old. I was goofing off in my back garden pretending to be the Avatar by myself (I know). I was in places when I did that, I would be displaying my fighting skills to the best of the best in my imagined reality, I would fight dragons and demons, everything that scared me actually. I could say that was the first productive thing I used my imagination for, kicking the shit out of shadow-people in the corner of my eye, the sleep-paralysis demon in the corner of my room, and whatever was about to appear behind me in a mirror at night. My reason for writing came to me when I realised that the only way to make what I imagine reality isn't to will it into existence (unfortunately), but to write it all down so that people can imagine it themselves. I wanted people to feel less afraid, and the thing that I was most afraid of was real life, which, as I slowly realised, is the scariest, most cruel thing in the world.

In this installment of the blog, I will guide you on developing and applying your imagination to your life. This will become a habit, and you'll be conjuring up scenarios in your head that will help you cope, even if it's just a fight with a monster, a mind-bending, body-breaking obstacle, or a breaking-down of a wall. As long as your scenario represents you overcoming your issues, or just visualising them in different ways, you're on the right path.

There are some risks to my method however, fake scenarios are all fine and dandy, until you're in a situation where you really should stay grounded in reality. Living in the moment becomes a more alien idea as the more issues you face, the more you delve into your head. When you're at a low point in life, the past hurts you more, and the future becomes more made-up. One thing you have to do, is practice mindfulness, meditation, and exercise. Make sure you have methods of clearing your head before you dive into Brain-Land.

The first method to developing a brain that comes up with fake scenarios in the healthiest way possible is to, every time you achieve something or run into an issue, give it a visual representation in your head, and imagine yourself getting ready to face it, and as you face this real-life issue, imagine yourself taking it on in your head. Sounds silly beating a monster called "Maths homework", "Heavy shopping", or "Rejection..." but it's a brain exercise. In any case, if it floats your boat, you can imagine yourself losing the battles, but that's just sad, so don't do that... please.

The second method is, when you're doing an everyday task, raise up the stakes in your head:

The dishes you're washing have sharp edges, so don't get cut.

The floor will collapse in a second, so jump at your couch.

The monster in the hallway at night is real, but you're in bed so you're okay. Wait... you need to use the bathroom, but the monster is there. Maybe you can wait till morning, no? Okay, you get off, it can feel your footsteps. You slowly approach your door, and as it opens... you unleash a firebomb at it and there it goes, burning away, disappearing, never to be seen again...

In conclusion, just let the inner child out! There are ways to keep it in you at all times, just make sure it's a happy child... a child that makes you happier and doesn't ruin your adult life. You don't have to be doing that all the time, it's just to get you used to using your imagination naturally, but also, don't let adult life numb you of what you are capable of. If you're still here, you want to write stories, so remember, the best stories come from the heart, they don't chase money, nor attention, they are representations of you: your interests, your passions, your emotions, your opinions. They are statements, messages, lessons.