Floaters

Floaters. Have you experienced them? Small, distracting spots caused by debris in the vitreous humor of the eye. They seem to float with whimsy across the field of vision. Myodesopsia is the medical term.

Recently, a cloudy film began to obscure my vision, a side-effect of cataract surgery. Laser surgery removed the film and cleared my vision. Sigh of relief. However, within twenty-four hours, odd-shaped floaty things began cruising across, around, up and down, my field of vision making it difficult to concentrate on my writing. In fact, it was difficult to see the screen well enough to type.

Fog and Floaters. Actually Singapore in the rain.

Seeing my ophtalmologist

Thinking I was losing my vision and therefore my ability to complete my latest manuscript, I returned to the surgeon’s office a few days later. He advised that my vision would clear as the laser debris fell away. I’ve noticed since that the volume and size of the debris have lessened. Their appearances are less frequent, less intrusive.

Floaters. The flotsam of distraction that floats whimsically in and out of our thoughts. Flotsam that can cause worry, fear and great expectation. Flotsam can be haunting, agonizing or full of terror. It can linger too long, pervasive or fleeting or become a delightful thought of longing or anticipation. Without our floaters, we would have little to muse on, I think.

My most profound floaters become the seeds for my stories, or the scenes within my stories. On those rare occasions when my floaters escape me, I wonder whether I’ll ever finish my work. Then, as if out of the blue, they start anew and my story begins again.

A friend's family crest, the inspiration for my novel The Crest

The Rosebud Fabergé Egg, the inspiration for my novel Tsarina's Crown

I’ve heard writers compartmentalized into two groups: plotters or pantsers. Plotters set the stage before they write. They draw maps and charts and know exactly who their characters are, what they will do and when and where the doing will occur. Pantsers, like me, work with seeds and floaters of spontaneity. My characters may tell the story through their actions, experiences or dialogue. It can be frustrating on occasion, when a floater leads me in a new, usual or unexpecteddirection. Then, another floater will come along and, once again, my story resumes to a promising path.

Floaters . . . in the eye are a nuisance but tolerable, if temporary.

Floaters . . . explorers rocketing through our minds, igniting our imagination, and inviting us to consider a path of different travel.

I’ll pass on the nuisance factor, but will always welcome the adventure, whether real or just a floater in my mind.

PS FYI, famous pantsers include Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Margaret Atwood and Ray Bradbury.