Writing for Control

I don't know about any of you, but my writing is closely tethered to my emotional well being. Part of me feels like I need to have perfect circumstances in which to write, and the other part of me feels like I write to escape less than ideal circumstances. Lately I have really enjoyed writing as an escape! How wonderful is it to enter a world where we as writers have almost total control? ( I say almost, because I know writers who claim their characters often hold them hostage. Hey, it happens.) When I was a child, I loved to play with dollhouses. I would spend hours removing all of the furniture and accoutrements, only to arrange and rearrange, deciding which rooms would serve what purpose and so on. This was the perfect way to exert control over my environment, and writing accomplishes the same thing!

I respectfully suggest that if your life feels like it's spinning out of control, you take virtual reality by the hand and arrange it to your liking. I find after these exercises, I spring back to my regular life feeling much more capable of handling whatever comes next.