The God Complex

Okay, so I'm sure no one is reading this at this point, but I'm going to imagine people out there.

One thing I've noticed as a writer is that it's incredibly easy to develop a God Complex. Translation: writers tend to think they're God when it comes to their writing. Just in case no one figured that out.

What the writer does is essentially her own form of Genesis. She creates her own world, albeit one that does not exist beyond the page, complete with her own Adams and Eves. With those first words on the page, she introduces light to her world. She looses her characters, curious as to exactly where they'll go before their story ends, though she has an idea of it. Not to start an argument on theology, of course.

Now, this sounds all well and good. But it's what this leads to that causes problems.

Controlling every aspect of the novel can, and often does, lead to perfectionism. When something unexpected occurs, it's almost literally the end of the world. A writer can plan out her novel perfectly, every plot point mapped out, and yet still be surprised by something a character does. In one of my old stories I wrote in high school, I was crushed when I realized that my own favorite character had to die. I had introduced him with the intent of his being a comic relief of sorts (the subject matter was rather angsty), and then he evolved into something I hadn't planned. As the creator of my own little world, this was not something I was prepared to handle gracefully. I could have let him live, of course, but the story would have been negatively affected. I will admit that I cried.

The fact is, a writer can do anything with her own novel. If she wanted to have it suddenly rain jelly beans, she could do so. Obviously, this doesn't lead to the greatest literature, but the possibility is there. And that's where the God Complex starts. When a writer becomes so deeply immersed in her writing, she can forget the limits of her control. Everyone wants to believe that their novel is the next Great Expectations or Pride and Prejudice. A writer who is so confident in her own literary genius will think that even if she decides to cause a jelly bean hurricane, her novel will be brilliant.

Now, godawful writing aside, here's the dangerous part: when a writer spends so much of her time in her world, she starts to take on the same attitude of ultimate control in other aspects of her life. Everything that goes wrong is a tragedy. How dare someone defy such a deity?

The fact is, even though we have control in our own worlds, we can't micromanage the real world. If every writer was the center of the universe, the universe would be a very confused place. A writer can't choose who lives or dies in the real world, or whether or not it rains jelly beans. The sphere of influence ends past the paper (or word processor, as it were). And speaking for myself, thank God for that.