how to write

Step 1: Live your fucking life

  Step 1-A: Pay attention to everything. Learn how things work. How they fit together. Don't rely so much on your own point-of-view. You're just one character. Zoom out. Zoom in. What would a hero do? What would a villain do? The mentor? The sidekick? The love interest? Every few minutes, most people do something that reveals a little bit about their characters. Take notes. Every fragment won't be useful, but you won't know which ones aren't until you're dead, and then it won't really matter. Write to discover. We already have enough people telling us what they already know. Fiction is great for messy ideas; not everything has to be a clue, or a symbol, or a variation on a theme. Sometimes a character just wants a sandwich. All those moments when you can't think of a clever riposte are okay.  Everyone has those moments. Make a plan. Or don't. You'll probably be more successful if you do plan a little. You're building a world; don't condemn them to be trapped in your own head. 

ghost problems

Everyone gets a choice, at the end, if they want their consciousness to move on to the next plane of existence or if they want to stay on this one. The non-corporeal part isn't an option; you will be, in a basic sense, a ghost. A bodiless you that isn't bound by the laws of physics. 

I chose to stay. I wanted to explore the oceans, the molten core of the Earth, and all the other planets in the solar system.

And I did... I know I did. The problem is I don't really remember. 

Memories, real memories, aren't formed as just pictures. When we experience anything, when alive, there is smell, touch, sound, as well as sight. All of these combine to form the memory. It turns out they also give it shape, hold it up, secure its location, so to speak. Without the extra sensory information received by the body, it gets... lost.

Like waking up from a dream; you only hold on to it for a few seconds and then it vanishes back into the void. 

I can see everything, even experience it, but I can't learn.