why I want to be shot

A part of me really wants to be shot.
Yes, shot. With a gun. Somewhere that won't do any lasting damage, or leave me dead.

What the heck is wrong with you, Jessica?, you're probably thinking right now. To which I reply that the only thing wrong with me is a love of literature.

You see, when I read stories, I picture what's going on. It's like a full length feature film playing in my head. I empathize with the characters, feeling what they're feeling as much as I can. But when a character is shot, I come up empty; I've never experienced it, so no matter how eloquently the author explains the shooting pain and burning sensations, I can't quite get a handle on it.

The same goes for when I'm writing. I can't write about a character being shot, with a gun or bow and arrow or slingshot or anything, because I've never experienced it for myself. I don't know what words to use to evoke the right response in a reader.

So when I say that I want to be shot, it has nothing to do with any psychotic tendencies or death wishes. I just want to know what it's like, so that I can picture it when I read about it and translate it when I write about it. It's the same reason that, even though it freaked me out, I'm glad that I passed out last year. Now I know just what it's like to pass out, so when a character loses consciousness in a book I'm reading, or when Merry loses consciousness in a book I'm writing, I know exactly what's what.

"Write what you know" isn't necessarily a motto I live by - I do write fantasy, after all - but knowing as much as you can is a major asset.

And, just for the record, I know at least one other avid reader who agrees with my reasoning and wants to be non-lethally shot as well. So at least I'm not the only crazy one.