when you are on the subway?
For those of you who have never ridden the New York subway or the Chicago Elevated, or "El", I can tell you from experience that it is not the most pleasant thing in the world.
For example, a few days ago I was on the green line in Chicago. There was only one other person inside the train car besides me. He approached me and starting asking questions. I was polite but I had to pretend to be a completely different person. Basically, I lied. What got him to leave me alone was when I pretended to call my police father. I was actually calling the person I was visiting. (For further clarification, my father is not a police officer.) I was pretending.
Everytime I am on the "el" I pretend to be somebody else. It's generally an uncaring person who only wants to get her work done. I look college age so reading a book is not that hard to make look like work especially when I have a notebook and a pen. One of my characters is based on this persona I use to keep the creepier passengers away from me. She has always been put down by males so she has to work extra hard in order to feel like a success. She doesn't have any close friends because of how busy she has made her life, yet she's not lonely. I'm not going to tell you more because I will probably post more on her and her life later, but I hope you can see how a simple experience like being in a crowded train car can lend itself to the creative process.
Characters always seem to be born from some feeling or experience we've had in real life. For me, main characters are born from a change I have had or a desire I wish to see in myself. For instance, I would like to be less of a victim and more of a creator of myself in life. This strong emotion has given birth to my character Chloe, who is a victim of cercumstance but then will grow stronger to control her outward and inner world. Sometimes other characters are born as our "shadow-self", with everything we don't want to be. My question for you is does this made up person you pretended to be somehow say something about who you truly are?
ReplyDeleteI can understand how fear can make people do unusual things. But I firmly believe that all of us were born to be ourselves. Our personalities, skills, and talents make us unique and help to shape our character. To pretend to be someone else often complicates the situation and lowers our self-esteem. I hope you will discover the joy and simplicity of being yourself.
ReplyDeleteYou have an interesting way of dealing with public transportation. As someone who uses the local bus system every day, I can assure you that it is not necessary to travel to another city to encounter unpleasant or creepy fellow passengers.
ReplyDeleteI normally deal with the creeps by ignoring them. I wear my iPod headphones and turn up music so that I have the perfect excuse for why I didn't hear someone talk to me. It's not as creative as your method, but it also tends to make the likelihood of having to talk to someone much lower. I prefer to avoid speaking to creepy people in the first place; then I don't have to worry about telling tall tales as you mentioned. I also don't have to worry about some creep finding me interesting enough to stalk.
While I understand your drive to use your experiences as a creative boost, I would recommend finding some way to deal with fellow passengers that doesn't involve spinning tales. In the long run, just not talking to the creeps is probably safer.