What writing means to me

Throughout this entire process I have come to find that life is somewhat like a novel. It is filled with dialogue, methaphors, similies, symbolism, and foreshadowing if you find yourself, "in touch with the touch." As a writer, your work becomes your world. You develop your plot, your characters, your synopsis, and next thing you know, you become a child all over again. What I mean by becoming a child again is that you see the world through eyes of discovery, as if the world is brand new to you all over again. You listen for it in conversation, you look for it in your surroundings, and most importantly you tap into your heart, the place where I believe you find your voice-your true self.
As you know or are about to know I am a firm believer of experience. I have taken many classes and have watched my fair share of CNN only to find they are fruitless in terms of actually going out and seeing for yourself what is actually going on out in the world that surrounds you. I gave my main character the name Michael Chiaroscuro not because my name is Michael and because my last name is Italian-although it has its significance. Michael means one who is like God-hence, God appears to him in the novel. Chiaroscuro is Italian for the shades of gray. The alias Seeker, exactly what I spent doing traveling round the country the past five years, SEEKING. Seeking truth, answers to questions I pondered, and more importantly, seeking my true identity. I've come to find that yes, the world is truly made up of two components: Good and Evil. That's why I gave him that name, Chiarscuro-grey, the mixture of black and white. Now, we can go a little bit further into the realm of my thought process and I'll tell you why I chose the Solar Eclipse. Again, good and evil. Good being the sun, evil being the moon. I feel that evil is most prevalent in our world-not to be pessimistic and all but turn on the t.v. or open up the newspaper and list both the pros and cons. I bet you'll find my conjecture to be more than correct. That's why I chose Umbra. A total state of darkness. But even in the night there are beautiful things, and thats how I feel about my dark characters- I shed light on to all, seeing the good in people no matter how dark they be. Same with the protagonist. For no one is perfect, and to make a perfect character is not only as dull as the back end of a butter knife, but also very unrealistic in terms of writing even an okay piece of fiction. Even Superman could be killed by Krptonite, why the hell should my characters or any writers characters for that matter be any different?.?
The book is fiction and yes, most of it, including the characters, were developed in my head over a large scale of time. They are with me all the time, adn everywhere I go, they come with-as crazy as that may sound. Its almost like having multiple, multiple rows of filing cabinets and everytime I hear, see, or feel, something I immediatly know which character(filing-cabinet) it goes with. I am the humble, loving, parent of my creations.
I chose to insert journal entries into the novel, these being my own personal experiences. I guess you can call it non-fiction as well but I don't know what to call the blend of them both.
While researching I felt as if I was living my life and while writing it almost felt as if I was reliving it. I feel as if I was blessed with an endless field of strawberries and each one I pick is filled with inspiration. Its in certain moments you just know....
YOU JUST KNOW.


Michael J. Milano