Writers Wear Many Hats

With Halloween days away, I’ve been thinking about how writers wear many hats. As children, Halloween is an excuse to slip into another skin. If you dream of being a firefighter, it’s perfectly acceptable to portray yourself as one. Likewise, if you have an obsession with Freddy Krueger, no one will bat an eye if you don a fedora and strap on some wicked fingernails.

Costuming

How does this apply to writers? Well, unless you are a memoirist or nonfiction writer, you make stuff up. You create firefighters or Kruegeresque characters with nothing more than a vivid imagination and a keyboard. Feel like writing a character who works at a riding academy? Try on a riding helmet and imagine yourself into the character. Perhaps you’ve always been fascinated by a great sculptor or artist. Plop a beret on your head and explore the world of fine arts. Even if you don’t put an actual hat on your head, make-believe is a powerful tool.

Writers Wear Many Hats

Just like the Trick or Treaters that knock on your door, or Trunk or Treaters that circle your car, you can immerse yourself in a story world by pretending to be that character. Adopt the mannerisms, vocal tics, and clothing you imagine that riding instructor or sculptor to have. Do a little research so you can play around with turns of phrase related to their profession. Adjust your vocabulary. Allow your emerging characters to be silly or serious, witty or wily. Whatever your story and characters demand. Throw them into ridiculous situations and see how they react. Have fun.

As a child, play-acting was easy. You could be an astronaut one day and a ballerina the next. This Halloween, remember that writers wear many hats as you embrace your inner child.