WIP

Premonition

This thought ocurred to me this morning as I perused the morning news on the web. I'm sure everyone has heard something of the Luge accident in the Olympics. Just a quick brush-up, the young athlete from Georgia (country, not state) crashed during his training run before the official start of the Olympics. He lost control and his body went flying through the air and hit a metal post along the rink (or whatever they call it). He died soon after.

His friend (grew up in the same town) and teammate was devastated. He did not complete his training runs and pulled out of the competition.

The Olympic people there in Vancouver seem to hold the opinion that the guy's inexperience caused the unfortunate accident, but they shortened the rink and built a wall to prevent something like that from occurring again this year.

The athletes themselves have been saying the rink there in Vancouver is pretty fast, and I read today that the kid who died was terrified of the rink. This was something he confided to his father.

Why am I mulling over these details?

It goes together with something that my mom has said time and again w/regards to a person's death. She believes that when people are about to die, they generally KNOW. They get a certain feeling. A premonition.

More to that effect, I think there is such a thing as sixth sense. It is that voice that whispers in your ear from time to time, sometimes preventing death, sometimes preventing chaos and trouble - should you heed it.

And it doesn't always concern life and death situations.

An example I have was the little voice in my head that convinced me not to write a check on Sunday, assuming my paycheck on Monday would cover the check without any trouble. I didn't write the check, which was a good thing since when I went to the el banco Monday morning I discovered it was closed for Presidents Day. Ugh. I would have overdrafted, darnit. Thank the maker I listened to the voice.

How does this concern writing?

If the characters are human and put in a dangerous position, odds are that certain thoughts are going to flicker through their head. If they are sharp, those whispers would be enough to keep them on their guard through the event.

Or else...

They are very human and don't always listen to those whispers - perhaps because caution had misled them in the past.

I can see this coming in handy with the WIP I'm working on right now (BSW). In this WIP I'm fighting to keep the main character from assuming outright supernatural abilities. She is superhuman, but was 'blinded' as a child - and must rely on a very determined spirit guide to find her purpose in life, despite her handicaps.

Besides the spirit guide, for the most part she is going to see certain clues along the way, and must learn to rely on her instincts. Her instincts (premonitions) will tell her who to trust, who to fear, and which paths to follow.

The other thing - if you have characters who feel chaos or death approaching, don't feel that it is too George-Lucas-cliche to make them 'have a bad feeling'. The thing about people in real life is they receive multiple signs or feelings before disaster strikes.