I'm on a perpetual quest to read and bring to attention female writers who can give males a whooping on their home field.Kira Peikoff write dysopian thrillers. That's badass. When her publicist hit me up for a guest post, I couldn't possibly turn the opportunity down. Her post today is about obsessions, which is quite the zeitgeist of our day and age.
What do you think of when you hear the word obsession? I alternately think of Calvin Klein, a teenage girl with a crush, or my conscience telling me to quit Facebook. In other words, to be obsessed is to be overly involved (or overly perfumed), which is never a good thing. It hints at instability, dependence, smelliness.
So I was surprised recently when my new writing teacher began the first day of class by turning that notion on its head. She opened the class by declaring that every writer must have obsessions; they are vital to producing passionate work. Especially anyone who wants to write a book. Some topic has got to intrigue you—obsess you—enough to drive you to the desk, day after day, through 300 pages.
If I think of a few of today’s top writers in these terms, I can see what obsesses them. For Jonathan Franzen, it’s the cracks in the nuclear America family and in American life; for Jhumpa Lahiri, it’s the modern immigrant’s experience; for EL James, it’s erotic sex. To each his own, right? And that’s hands-down the greatest perk of being a novelist. You can write about whatever you find most interesting, and hopefully some people will agree.
So where do obsessions come from, and how do you tap into them? I would venture to guess our childhoods play a major role. Our earliest interests, scars, and fascinations continue to have lasting effects—those experiences inform the lens through which we view the world, even today. The books we grew up reading, the stories we lived or learned, whether fairy tale or fairly tragic, live on in our subconscious. Some stick extra hard, and those become our obsessions, whether we want to fess up to them or not. I will.
In no particular order, here are my top five:
1. Health. Ever since I can remember, I’ve been a bit of a hypochondriac, overly concerned with potential symptoms. I am fascinated by doctors, sometimes seeing them as super-human healers, and other times as terrifying messengers. I’ve written a few doctor characters into my fiction, and so far, they’ve all been good people. Thankfully, I haven’t yet encountered any quack doctors in real life, so my admiration for everyone in the medical profession endures—especially since, in the last year and a half, I actually suffered my first real health crisis: I almost went blind in my right eye. Thanks to a top surgeon, I’m now OK. Which leads to my next obsession.
2. Heroes. Whether they’re the everyday types or the larger-than-life, world-changing ones, I’m amazed and inspired by all kinds of heroes. Their combination of bravery, integrity, and smarts compels me to want to be a better person. I love to invent characters that I can endow with all the traits I respect the most; it’s funny how the act of writing about inspiring people can be inspiring itself.
3. Romance. Give me a good love story, and I’ll get sucked in like it’s anybody’s business. I’m obsessed with what makes two people fall in love, and stay that way. Is it some perfect alignment of personalities, values, physicality, or all of the above? Writing is one way for me to explore the answer.
4. Biology. I’m endlessly intrigued by genetics and the whole nature vs. nurture debate. How much does our DNA determine the course of our lives and our identities? Also compelling to me: intersection of memory and identity; human reproduction; biotechnology and bioethics.
5. Music. I can’t live without it, and neither can my characters. Music of all sorts, but especially classical, seems to crop up in my writing as a source of spiritual sustenance. This may or may not have something to do with the fact that I’m marrying a musician.
So there you have it: my obsessions laid bare. I shared, so now it’s your turn. Don’t be shy. Let’s hear your top five.
LIVING PROOF is available at Amazon, B&N and through IndieBound.