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This interests me why? Well, simply put, how does a writer create a story based upon actions or items they have never encountered? The answer is of course – imagination. As fiction writers we must imagine the worlds we create long before we actually create them. We must put ourselves inside the shoes of our characters, our settings, our locations and imagine them.

Imagination is what propelled Einstein and Bell and any other person in this world who created something new or unique. Look at Hedy LaMarr. An actress of Hollywood’s Golden Age, a beautiful woman who invented most of the technology used in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies today. She wanted to create a way for our torpedoes to be able to ignore the jamming frequencies of the Germans during World War Two. 

The story of why the Navy refused to use her system is a sad one and shows the illegality of much of what the government did in those days in the name of national security, though in LaMarr’s case it was simple sexism which kept her system from being used. A system which would have ended the war much sooner.

That is another discussion altogether. What is important is it took Hedy and her partner, George Antheil, a pianist; the ability to imagine what it would take for a torpedo to track a ship without its radio frequency being jammed. Until she invented this frequency hopping spread spectrum technology, based upon the eighty-eight keys of a piano, torpedoes were often fired line of sight. A submarine captain had to surface and look at his target, line up his ship then fire at his target in the hopes it didn’t move.

 

With LaMarr’s invention, all they had to do was let the torpedo go. It would find the target and keep homing in on it no matter what the target did. Imagine the imagination it took to conceive of and create such a system. Now write about it. Can you conceive of this as a story? Can you imagine what it took? Can you take what you imagine and put it in words?

Imagination is the key to a good fiction writer’s ability to tell a story. Let’s look at the fight scene. Who among you has been in a fight recently? How many of you are experts in hand-to-hand combat? How many of you have been immersed in warfare? Been taken as a hostage? Knows what it feels like to take a punch and get back up?

Not me. I haven’t been in a fight since my early twenties. If I must write about a fight, I have to imagine it. Imagine the way it feels to hit someone in the face or be hit. Imagine the consequences of being hit. The pain and the struggle to continue.  

Most of those who write fight scenes do not participate in them. Some you can tell have no clue, and others are so real you get lost in the scene. Most, if not all you read, is the product of someone’s fertile imagination.

The ones who tickle me the most are the men who write erotica under female pen names. Why do they do this? Simple, most people who buy erotica don’t believe men can truly understand the way women feel, especially about sex. Such utter nonsense. All it takes is imagination and some observational skills. 

The reverse is true of course. Women who wrote science fiction were considered to be below men in the field. Considered below men in the sciences period. Women who wrote science fiction used male pseudonyms if they wanted their work to be published. 

Does it hurt both sexes have the imagination to write fictions and fantasy about the opposite sex? No! Sex is immaterial if the writer has a great imagination and the ability to use that to craft a great story. 

For me, it would take a world of imagination to envision myself in the military of today. I did my time in the Navy. The only difference in what I did for them and what I did after was I changed from a Navy issued set of coveralls to a civilian set. End of story. For me, to write about the anguish of someone suffering from post-traumatic syndrome is beyond my imagination. However, for others, not so much.

It helps if you have some experience on the subject matter you choose to write about. Let imagination fill in the gaps of your intimate knowledge of said subject. However, I have found that a good writer with a great imagination is far better than a great write with no imagination. 

A writer with a great imagination can transport a reader to worlds they never envisioned. Create such incredible delights you want to be a part of them even if you know they are not real. Harry Potter for instance. A person can be taught to write. Can learn how to craft a story. Can take an outline of a plot and a list of characters and create a story. One we have read a million times before. 

I ask myself, can you be taught to imagine?

Is that something you can do?

I’m Ross, The Editor-in-Chief at The Pyrateheart Press, and I’m out.