Facing your written world

Picture by Metacheetr

I know full well that London is a real place and that many of the locations I've used in Sanctuary do exist. But I'm not a Londoner and I don't go to London all that often.

On Tuesday I hopped on the train and found myself if the big city. I'd already planned to look at it through a writer's eyes, to take in certain aspects of the city that may help me to get the description in Sanctuary perfect.

I looked at everything through a post-apocalyptic haze. That was until I got to the Tube. I find the underground system really scary at the best of times. But the difference now is that I've written a super scary scene about the exact place I was travelling through. One of the scarier scenes of Sanctuary takes place underground between Westminster station and Embankment. Passing through those two places on the way to Chelsea freaked me out a little bit.

I had to clear to the post-apocalyptic haze and go back to carefree PR girl. Although every time those lights flickered my heart jumped into my throat.

So, what I've written scares me. I know the world, I created it, and yet I'm terrified of it and the mere thought of the places mentioned in it. That's amazing! Hopefully I can instil a sense of fear in all who read Sanctuary.

Is it a good thing that my own writing can freak me out? Does that mean it will scare others?