My fellow writers read the title to this post and immediately knew what I was talking about. The rest of you…well, I’m about to enlighten you. Writer brain is the blessing and the curse that all writers live with. It’s a blessing because it’s what helps us get past those sticky plot points or turn the story in a completely unexpected direction. It’s a curse because we take an ordinary every day situation and our brain twists it and twists it some more.
For example, when a normal person drives down the street and a car passes going the other direction its not a big deal. This is how my brain works. ‘What if he suddenly swerved over? I’d have to go down that embankment to get away from him. I wonder if that’s steep enough to make my car roll. Do I have my cell phone with me so they can call my husband when they find me?’ Fun, right? Morbid? yes. Can I help it? No.
Reading that, it really shouldn’t surprise you to discover that it is a very thin line that separates writers from schizophrenics. The main difference is writers know what’s in their brain isn’t real. It also shouldn’t surprise you that if you search ‘are writers crazy’ you get over 54,000,000 hits.
Unfortunately my son has inherited my brain and automatically thinks of the worst ten things that could happen in any given situation. But I know his brain and how it works so that helps me to understand him and helps me to explain to him why he does the things he does.
There isn’t really a point to this post other than to say I am surrounded by people one shade short of crazy and it makes me deliriously happy to be one of them.
Happy reading and writing, my friends.
Kathleen Collins 
I size people up when I meet them and file them away. Everyone’s just a potential source or character waiting to be tapped. Is that bad?
Oh my GOD —- is THAT why I think like that?? Over the last few years it’s gotten WAY worse… my kids get older, I think, “If they step to the next aisle of the grocery store, they’ll be kidnapped… will I be able to describe what they’re wearing to the police?” And don’t get me started on what’s out in my yard at night when my lights are on but it’s dark out there. Every situation around me, I go right for The Worst Possible Thing That Can Happen x 10!!!!
LOL
#SendHelp!!
I find writer brain more in my paying attention to settings. I am staring at everything a room and deciding what would make good murder weapons or where should the body be found. Thank goodness I am writing in the suspense genre! Good post!
See I knew I wasn’t alone. 🙂