An Explanation | Teen Ink

An Explanation MAG

May 25, 2010
By Imaginedangerous PLATINUM, Riverton, Utah
Imaginedangerous PLATINUM, Riverton, Utah
31 articles 0 photos 402 comments

I need a story, you see. That's why I have so much energy and no outlet for it. That's why my thoughts thrash around in my skull in dark and light and blue, with textures ranging from silky to metallic to straw weave.

That's why I want to run and yell with pent-up joy and frustration and sheer energy, but can't (because honestly, that would just look weird). That's why I can't sleep even when I'm dead tired. My thoughts are too fast, frenetic. That's why I pace.

I need a story, you see. That's why, behind my eyes, I see scenes of fighting and joy and random snatches of lives. That's why every mundane sound morphs into a gunshot or yell or wild song, why a simple drive becomes a car chase and an ordinary envelope becomes something much more sinister. That's why I hear conversations between characters, shouted in a panic or whispered softly or hardly finished for laughter. I don't know what they're laughing at – which is why I need a story.

Why? I've got to focus this energy, or it will tear me apart. A major reason. Trace amounts of adrenaline flutter through my veins constantly, and I no use for it. I'm dying to be in my element, in front of the keyboard, where I belong. I'm itching to take these ideas and words and carve something worthwhile out of them. It's one of the elementary laws of the universe: A painter has to paint. A chef has to cook. An athlete has to run. And I have to write.

The second reason, now. I think I already mentioned the fragmented sounds and sights running in my head like a slow and controlled explosion. I need to know why. I'm dying to find out why that airplane fills him with a sense of dread. I want to figure out what exactly it's running from in the night with a smoke-yellowed moon. I don't know why she's laughing alone under a tree. And then there's that huge tumult raging in the background, and yelling that (somehow) is both panicked and controlled at the same time: “I can't, sir! We're out of …” Out of what? Range? The water? Ammo? Time? How does the conversation end? And why?

Without a story, I'll never know. And I can't use it, and I can't sleep at night for wondering and energy. I won't have the plot between my teeth and the spacebar beneath my thumb.

And that's just not what I'll settle for.

So I need a story, you see.


The author's comments:
I was having a couple of days in a row exactly like this and was looking for something to write. In desperation, I finally put this down. :)

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This article has 12 comments.


KatsK DIAMOND said...
on Apr. 22 2012 at 12:01 pm
KatsK DIAMOND, Saint Paul, Minnesota
57 articles 0 photos 301 comments

Favorite Quote:
Being inexhaustible, life and nature are a constant stimulus for a creative mind.
~Hans Hofmann
You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.
~Ray Bradbury

You, imaginedangerous, capture exactly what I feel. I as well totally have flashes of inspiration, of "ohh, this is what milton meant in Paradise Lost" and brilliant new ideas. I was literally yearning for my computer, as I spent a few days in DC without it and got so inspired it was painful to not write.

on Jan. 22 2012 at 8:07 pm
__horizon133 PLATINUM, Portage, Michigan
26 articles 0 photos 231 comments

Favorite Quote:
"laugh, and the world laughs with you. laugh hysterically, and for no apparent reason, and they will leave you alone." anonymous

that didn't format the way i wanted it to. d*mn.

on Jan. 22 2012 at 8:06 pm
__horizon133 PLATINUM, Portage, Michigan
26 articles 0 photos 231 comments

Favorite Quote:
"laugh, and the world laughs with you. laugh hysterically, and for no apparent reason, and they will leave you alone." anonymous

worlds are burning in my head i write or else they'll end up dead blood on my hands i see with dread ouch. people are going to start writing fan fiction about your fiction before you actually publish it. email me when you get something in hardcover, okay?

I like pie said...
on Aug. 1 2011 at 1:00 pm

I wrote a short poem about this;

A thousand ideas run through my head

must get them out before I am dead. 


on Oct. 26 2010 at 2:47 pm

I feel like this every day!!!! I cant come up with a story, but hear charcters screaming and crying and laughing! It's so frustrating!

So yeah, I really enjoyed this peice of art


on Oct. 4 2010 at 7:26 am
xAllegria BRONZE, Singapore, Other
1 article 2 photos 112 comments

Favorite Quote:
Ça fait tellement du bien d’aimer les gens qu’on aime, que ça finit par faire mal. Je sais pas comment on survit a ça. Non franchement, je sais pas. LOL (laughing out loud) ®, Lola.

If this is what you write when you don't have a story, I'd like to see how it is when you do. ;) Very nice.

on Sep. 27 2010 at 10:37 pm
Alice_in_Wonderland GOLD, San Clemente, California
16 articles 0 photos 620 comments

Favorite Quote:
“I could give up, I could stay stuck, or I could move on, So I put one foot front of the other, No no no nothing’s gonna break my stride, “ –David Archuleta (The Other Side of Down)

Awesome! I loved this article! Great Job, I'm rating this story 5 out of 5 stars.

iDogrocker said...
on Aug. 8 2010 at 7:09 pm
iDogrocker, Lebanon, Oregon
0 articles 0 photos 78 comments
I think this may just have become my favorite article on TeenInk. This describes how I feel so much of the time so well! I've never really been able to describe it, but you've done it for me. 5 stars. This is incredible. 

on Jun. 14 2010 at 5:07 pm
Imaginedangerous PLATINUM, Riverton, Utah
31 articles 0 photos 402 comments
It's great the way it is.

dancer13 GOLD said...
on Jun. 10 2010 at 4:41 pm
dancer13 GOLD, Troy, Michigan
19 articles 0 photos 98 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I do not want people to be agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them." ~Jane Austen

haha sorry(:

And thanks! I was kind of thinking I should revise it a bit though, maybe sort of make her go to the mosque and start getting involved with her Muslim-ness again, so that the authorities at least have some backing when they arrest her. Would that make it more plausible?


on Jun. 9 2010 at 5:08 pm
Imaginedangerous PLATINUM, Riverton, Utah
31 articles 0 photos 402 comments

Yes, my inbox was full of 'Someone has commented on your article' notices...but I don't mind. :)

I read 'Her Name was Fatima' and loved it. I rated it five stars.


dancer13 GOLD said...
on Jun. 9 2010 at 4:58 pm
dancer13 GOLD, Troy, Michigan
19 articles 0 photos 98 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I do not want people to be agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them." ~Jane Austen

Ahhh! I'm going through and commenting on pretty much all of your work. :) It's amazing!!! Makes me feel a bit stalkerish, though. Sorry.

You should check out some of my stuff...though there's not much of it (yet).