Janet Ann Collins at the Red River Writers Blog Tour

Writers, especially those of us who write fiction, usually have active imaginations. Part of being creative involves asking, “What if?” But, is it possible to have too much imagination? When I was a kid my mother often told me I did, and other writers have told me they heard similar things from their parents. 

 

After writing for newspapers and magazines for many years I had my first book  for kids published last Summer. The Peril of the Sinister Scientist is about a boy with an active imagination. Joshua thinks he was cloned from the blood on the Shroud of Turin because a scientist who had tried to make that clone is stalking him. How can Joshua behave like Jesus Christ in Middle School while managing to avoid the clutches of the scientist who is pursuing him?

 

Our imaginations can take us anywhere. What if you thought you were Jesus Christ? How  would you act at work, in your home, and the other places you go everyday? What if you found out the people you thought were your parents were not and you were actually the heir of someone famous? What if you learned someone was trying to kill you but you had no idea why? What if you were told you won ten million dollars in a contest you hadn’t entered? What if you met an alien from outer space? What if you had the power to read other people’s thoughts or could travel to the past or the future? 

 

All those questions have been used to generate plots of many stories, books, and movies, but no two stories based on the imaginary answers are exactly alike because no two people’s minds are the same. All the experiences of our daily lives and things we’ve read and seen have enriched our memories and provide fodder for our imaginations.

 

As a former teacher, parent, and foster parent of children with special needs I enjoy reading and writing books for kids, but other people prefer stories about things, such as sports or war, that don’t appeal to me at all, and that’s a good thing. No two people, not even identical twins, have identical imaginations. As to the old saying goes, “if ever two people were exactly alike, one of them would be unnecessary.” By sharing our unique answers to “What if?” questions we can enrich the minds of other people. 

 

So let’s all keep asking, “What if.” Like Joshua in The Peril of the Sinister Scientist we can’t imagine where our imaginations can take us but our lives will be exciting as we find out.

 

Janet Ann Collins is also the author of a picture book, Secret Service Saint. To learn more about her please visit her website, www.janetanncollins.com and her blogs, http://onwordsblog.blogspot.com (about kids, books, and words) and http://janetanncollins.blogspot.com (about special needs.)

 
 

 

Comments

[Janet Ann Collins]

I hope this article is helpful to other writers.

[Sandie Lee]

Great article. Thanks it is helpful :)

[Nancy Carty Lepri]

This is GREAT, Jan!!! Way to go! You know I wish you nothing but happiness and lots of success!

[kathy stemke]

Great article, Janet. Thanks.

[Cheryl C. Malandrinos]

Absolutely loved this book! Keep up the great work, Jan.

Cheryl