I Wish Death to this Blog Chain

Abi always gives a little precursor to what the blog chain is...I've never done that. So here's my best shot. A bunch of us writerly types from QueryTracker decided to form a chain. We called it a blog chain. We made a special place where we meet on RallyStorm. After much discussion, we decided that the topics would be chosen on a rotational basis (my turn is coming very soon, *gulp*) and everyone would blog about the same topic in an orderly manner.

So...to keep linkage in the chain: Sandra started the chain this time. As usual, Abi posted before me and Terri is up tomorrow.

Okay, so my (lack of) intelligence is really starting to show. When I read this topic, absolutely nothing came to mind. And this is supposed to be MINDLESS musings. Even that's really hard when there's just...nothing. Bear with me.

Anyway, here's the topic this go-round: What is the role of wish fulfillment in fiction? What personal wishes do you want your stories to fulfill? Are they the same ones you want to read about? How do our fictitious wishes affect our everyday wishes?

I'm going to really focus on the middle two questions: What personal wishes do you want your stories to fulfill? Are they the same ones you want to read about?

I posted about Why I Read and Why I Write here. For me, this is my wish fulfillment blog chain post four months early. Though I like my whole list, I'll elaborate a little bit on a couple of my favorites.

1. When I read, I want to escape my real life. This influences my writing greatly. I want to write stories that aren't real, but close. That provide an escape for me when I read them again, and hopefully to fulfill this wish in other readers who have this desire when they read. I don't mind realistic fiction, but it isn't my favorite. I want to get lost for a while. No dishes. No laundry. Portals. Magic. A cool power. If you have this wish when you read, we read the same stuff. It's what I write as well.

3. I want to experience my first kiss again. And again. And again. I love romance. I'm not a great writer of it, but I like writing young adult where there is a little romance, possibly a first-time romance. I don't think my first kiss like, changed my life or anything, but it's something you can never do "first" again. So I like reading and writing about the first kiss. Sweet, simple, romantic.

6. I want to have a cool super power that allows me to do cool things. Almost everything I read that I love involves a main character that can do something no one else can. Something that makes them special. Something that can save the day at the right time. Percy Jackson by Rick Riordian comes to mind. I mean, the guy's a half-blood. How awesome is that? I totally want to be a half-blood. Or someone who can hear someone else's thoughts. Or can control the wind. Use magic. See the future. Something kewl. So I write stories with characters who can do things I wish I could do.

I definitely read what I like to write. And I wish I could do what my characters can.

And now it's time to pass the torch to Terri. Check out her post, which will be up sometime tomorrow.