Category: Imagination

McVale’s explanation of readers to Yas

McVale continued, switching topics again. “The human mind has a great ability to ignore things that don’t make sense. On some level readers do see everything, but they are expecting to see a particular story play out in their mind’s eye, and so they ignore anything else that doesn’t fit.” 

Yas heard children’s laughter somewhere above her and looked up, straining her eyes against the fog. She glimpsed children flying, holding hands, before they disappeared over a rooftop. 

 “We each imagine things slightly differently,” explained McVale. “To a reader, the realm offers Victorian London. Different stories, different paintings of scenes can be played out here, without a reader of one book consciously aware of what another is reading or seeing in their mind’s eye.” 

“Like theatre stages?” asked Yas, remembering something her grandpa had said to her a long time ago. “So, the realms are a collection of stages on which different stories can be played out by readers?” 

A quick reminder of ‘readers’

In the Word Guardians series, remember that readers unintentionally collaborate. What they each see in their mind’s eye powers the magical ink that creates and reshape the realms. 

As Yas realises above, the realms form theatre stages that play out a story in the mind’s eye of the readers, and they typically only see what fits with that storyline. It enables visitors to the realms, such as Yas and McVale in the excerpt, to move around undetected. They might be spotted, but because the reader is not expecting to see them, they are filtered out of the experience. 

What do you see when reading?

When you’re reading, what do you see in your mind’s eye? You probably see the storyline playing out, a scene and characters moving to match the description and action on the page. But do you ever notice anything you’re not expecting? I don’t know that I do, but it’s interesting to think about when you’re next sitting with a novel. 

What about in life?

In life too, we tend to look around us and see what we expect. We move through life with a particular set of goals and tasks to perform and only see what’s relevant to those and the settings that we travel through. If we’re driving, we notice other road users, pedestrians, road signs etc but whose to say what else might be there that we don’t notice? 

Mindfulness

Ultimately, I’m touching on mindfulness. I’m talking about how much we are fully present. We typically see what we expect to see given what we’re thinking about and imagining. But how much more is there, and how does that change our experience of life? 

I’m likely not doing enough justice to mindfulness by what I say here and it’s a worthwhile topic to dig into further. In the meantime, if you want to learn more about how The Word Guardians, buy Book 1 The Battle for the Peacekeepers. It’s available in both paperback and kindle editions. 

Enjoy reflecting. 

Yeah, you have to have a strong magical ability and a key to the doorway (as detailed in Who can visit the realms of the Word Guardians), but in The Battle for the Peacekeepers, Yas and Sam manage to do just that. They visit Victorian London and ancient Alexandria, and more.

Just imagine the possibilities of simply stepping through a doorway to your destination. You get to skip airport crowds, the waiting, delays and the effort. If all this was possible, where would you choose to go? 

The journey is the destination

That old adage of ‘the journey is the destination’ came to me while I was thinking about my answer to ‘where I would go?’. While stepping through to a destination sounds exciting, what you visit and do while there is equally important.  

If we just visited a beach, looked out at the sea and then return to our own world, it’s pleasant, but have we really experienced the place? If instead we spend time there, the place starts to become a part of our story, and our experience is richer as a result. 

What I’m trying to say is that why you choose to visit somewhere, what the intended story of your visit is and what your experience becomes, is important.  

We see this in the Word Guardians realms also. Each realm is formed by readers in the outer world unconsciously collaborating. Their imagination powers magical ink which builds worlds, creates actors and enables stories to play out. When Yas and Sam visit realms, they interact with these worlds and change the storylines. If it fits with what a reader in the outer world might expect to see, then it becomes part of the story.

So, what’s a better way to travel?

I started out in this blog by thinking about how we could avoid the inconvenient parts of modern-day long-distance travel. And I stand by that. Travel takes effort and its toll on us.  

If we had the ability to step through a doorway to a destination, that would be amazing, but I don’t believe it’s the complete answer. I think that by being more intentional about the stories we’d like to have when we visit somewhere, that’s an important part of it too. Whether planned or not, that forms a story that we’re part of forever.

Both Yas and Sam, typically have a purpose in mind when visiting a realm but then the story often unfolds in unexpected ways. How they take opportunities and adapt to the changing stories, that’s their story and one that I feel privileged to have been able to imagine and write. To learn more, please buy book one using the link below. 

I’d love to hear about your thoughts on travel too. Feel free to send a comment below or by using the contact form. And to journey with Yas and Sam through the realms, read The Battle for the Peacekeepers, available at the link below.

“Mornin,” called a man who was walking quickly towards them. He tipped his hat.

“Good morning,” replied McVale, giving the man a smile. Yas nodded nervously also in acknowledgement, then turned and looked at him once he had passed.

“So, they’re real and they can see us then?”

“Yes,” replied McVale. “Most are actors, playing out a storyline in response to the intentions of readers.”

“Intentions?” enquired Yas.

“Absolutely,” continued McVale. “Intentions are the images and actions we imagine in our mind’s eye as we read. The actors are created or are coerced into performing whatever it is that we, the readers, imagine for them. The same is true in dreams in some respect, although there is a lesser connection.”

Three storey buildings lined the side of the street they were walking along. The park and the exhibition building on the other side disappeared away into the mist more as they headed north. A wall of buildings emerged up ahead of them. The feel of the place indicated that it was an upmarket area of London. There were some business fronts on the ground floor of some of the buildings, but others were just residential.

“Woah!” exclaimed Yas, as she watched an ethereal person appear in the street ahead of them and float in their direction.

“Readers,” McVale replied matter-of-factly, stepping aside for the ghostly person to pass between them.

“So, they don’t see us?”

“They have a ghostly presence here because they are present in the outer realm, explained McVale.”

“The real world, you mean?”

“Yes,” replied McVale. “You sound like your mother.”

“Sorry,” replied Yas, not really sure what she was apologising for.

“No need,” dismissed McVale with a wave of her hand. “You have her determinedness and your grandfather’s sense of curiosity, rolled into one. I believe it will serve you well.”

McVale continued, switching topics again. “The human mind has a great ability to ignore things that don’t make sense. On some level readers do see everything, but they are expecting to see a particular story play out in their mind’s eye, and so they ignore anything else that doesn’t fit.”

Yas heard children’s laughter somewhere above her and looked up, straining her eyes against the fog. She glimpsed children flying, holding hands, before they disappeared over a rooftop.

 “We each imagine things slightly differently,” explained McVale. “To a reader, the realm offers Victorian London. Different stories, different paintings of scenes can be played out here, without a reader of one book consciously aware of what another is reading or seeing in their mind’s eye.”

“Like theatre stages?” asked Yas, remembering something her grandpa had said to her a long time ago. “So, the realms are a collection of stages on which different stories can be played out by readers?”

“Yes, quite so,” confirmed McVale. She seemed pleased that her student was understanding how the realms worked. “They may not always be geographically or historically accurate, but the realm provides a gathering place for the most read stories. “Look up there,” she pointed to a rooftop further up the street, where chimney smoke billowed upwards and characters were dancing.

As they moved away from the park, Yas looked around with renewed interest. She was intrigued to see what other stories she could spot. Either side of them were more business fronts and shops, with two or three floors above. Occasionally also, there were steps leading down into basement dwellings.

Up ahead, at the entrance to an alley, police were gathered around someone who was still on the ground. They caught glimpses of a plain clothes detective bending over, wearing a distinctive hat. Several ethereal readers floated about the scene.

“Is that?” Yas pointed. “Yes,” replied McVale. “You know your fiction.”

Intrigued to learn more?

The above excerpt helps explain how the realms work within the Word Guardians series. If you want to learn more, please visit the link below and buy book 1.