Benefits

This is a good time to take a step sideways from rather involved topics and look at some of the benefits of writing. There are many.

It took a while to realize it, but after a few months of wracking my brain trying to get the story going it suddenly occurred to me that my memory had really improved. It wasn't all that bad to start, but memory recall time was much shorter and there was a fluidity to my thinking that had been long absent. Not only that, but it seemed that I was also evaluating conversations with a much keener ear. Mind you, writing, once you are deeply involved, can really affect sleep as well.

Again some months into writing Exile to the Stars, I began dreaming about the story. Scenes and dialog would come and go to the point that, at times, it was like a travelogue. I didn't always wake up rested, but what a wealth of new ideas. It was an exciting time.

Writing a novel, or should I say learning over time how to write, is a huge benefit when corresponding, writing essays, or putting together a resume. There can be drawbacks to that skill however. I once had a lady friend comment that my emails were too polished. Well, maybe. And, of course, writing changes your personality.

I've already commented on that huge factor in several posts but perhaps not directly. I don't think it possible that, if you become totally involved in creating characters and living with them, that you will not also be affected by what they become. If you diligently and honestly write their lives, you are also influencing your own, for the outcome of behaviors does not depend on years but on months. If, of course, you have indeed pursued honesty. What a disservice to your characters if you have not.