“In Here” vs. “Out There”

I’ve never been good at doing action scenes or space battles. I can imagine them just fine inside my head. But putting it in words? With the kind of stories I write, you’d see two characters chewing each other out before you see a firefight. If I try to slip some action in just to spice up things, it falls flat.

Character interactions are my forte and my favorite thing to do. Or I like to think so. I also like to pick around inside of people’s heads and see what’s in there. The landscape of the mind, I think, is as dark and mysterious a place as outer space. The written word lets me explore to my heart’s content. What bothers me a little is that I’ve chosen to do this exploration in a visual universe where there are certain expectations. All that “boldly going” stuff, sprinkled with the occasional fist- or firefight. Am I putting myself in a corner for concentrating on the journey inward more than on the journey outward?

Posted October 3, 2009