avalonsmistress.com

“”Man is least himself when he talks in his
own person. Give him a mask and he’ll tell you
the truth.” - Oscar Wilde

I’ve always wondered about ‘masks’ - its hard not to wonder about how they affect our interactions, our daily life, but one of the biggest things I have discovered is that you’ll never spot one till its removed. Forcably or otherwise.

Many years ago, I made a huge mistake - one that has changed me quite a bit.  I dunno if its for good or bad, but it DID land me in the place I am now, and with a man that I adore.

I can’t say that ‘changing things’ would have made a difference either, as without what happened, I’d have possibly never trusted enough to hope that things were different. I don’t know - how DO you pull your life back from the damage and pain that you might have never changed your life for in the first place. It was the first time I realised I was deliberatly wearing masks for different people. And even odder still, it wasn’t the person that I owe an apology to that got to see the real me.

But - the persona that I had back then had to be a mask - I was still reeling from many things exploding in my face - and to stop people from seeing that damage, I hid. I pretended to be pretty, and happy, and lighthearted.

We do that in our writing - but some of us do it better than others - its when the chasms open up beneath us that we really have to question what’s going on. Writing is about finding a face to wear, and wearing it out. Its about telling a story from a perspective that only you can see - like wearing the person that is in the position to share thier bit of the story, like a costume.

I don’t do happy stories - its not becuase I’m not a happy person, but because I know what can happen to happy people - and we’re talking the level of CSI here. Makes me a great horror writer, but, you know, that mask fits far better than the ones I wear in real life.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got other masks - the one I “wear” for writing erotica, the one I use for writing horror so deeply hardcore that I don’t admit to writing it, and the new ones, for two romance writers. The latter two masks feel weird - they change whole perspectives and throw light on things that I’ve never seen before. Its a bit like magic, though it could just be a different mindset.

How about you? What masks do you wear, and why?