What is the big question? And no, it's not a proposal for marriage. It's a question that comes up all the time when a decision is to be made, I know I've been asking it a lot at the moment.
WHAT IF...
As soon as anyone reaches a decision about anything that question always lingers in the back of the mind (if you're human anyway). What if you took the job? What if you study nursing instead of music? The questions are endless, and the answers are never definite because no one will ever know what the outcome would have been if another path had been taken.
I have learned to never look back otherwise I'll never get past the "What if" question and wonder if I've made the right choice.
But, taking this question is great when applying it to writing. Just like people in real-life, the "What if" question creates obstacles for the character and brings life to them... well, no two people makes the same choices. They can choose identical paths, but the reason they are there can be very different.
What would the world be like without the "What if" dilemma? Do you think people would have the freedom to choose the right path that suits them?
Interesting question, what would life actually be like if you didn't have to, or couldn't, make choices?
Celebrate the Small Things 22-11-24
2 days ago
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1 comments:
A very interesting post. Lots of ideas generated here. Let's see... speculative fiction (or science fiction, if you will) seems to be primarily about What If? So do a lot of alternate histories, which are sometimes categorized as sci-fi or fantasy.
Some children's stories also deal with this. What if there were a school for magic in an otherwise ordinary world? And, of course, there are those coming of age stories where the main character is making different choices than his or her parents. I see that as a What If?
And then there are stories where characters don't have choices, because they're in jail - they've had their choices taken away from them. There are those who intentionally limit their choices, say, nuns, for example. And then there are those who don't think they have any choice, when perhaps they really do, people in unhappy marriages, for example.
Thanks again for that post - thought provoking!
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