Alter ego can be defined as a secondary side of our self. Now, we're not talking about split personalities here. That's a whole other ball-a-wax, like a clinical thing. I'm talking about us simple writers here. If you can even call us simple, haha.

So anyway, another side of us.

I've written before about our own emotions and being true to our emotions and our characters emotions. So how can we be true to our self, yet have an alter ego?

Well, we can attribute our emotions to a character that's a bank robber without us ever doing anything remotely as law breaking as robbing a bank. I mean, a bank robber is a human too, right? Unless said bank-robber is a work of our fiction. Yet, that bank robber could be based off a real life person, can it not?

Point is, we need to indulge in our alter ego. We need to indulge in our other self. Say a guy works for a fortune 500 company all day and at night has the dreams of being a bad boy. Well, he can be a bad boy all he wants through writing stories about his supposed adventures. That bad boy is his alter ego.

Just the same as a woman that's a bank teller can indulge in being a princess or even a leather-clad motorcycle biker chick through stories.

Those are alter egos. Used properly, they allow us to experience life as something that we are not.

It's a wonderful gift that all writers possess. You won't be able to write much, or effectively, without developing at least one, and maybe several alter egos.

You see, we're allowed to have fun with the other sides of our self. (When performed properly and do not try this at home, kids) You can be a 24/7 family man by day and a world-travelling, treasure-hunting, monster-slashing hero at night. And it's OK. Not only is that OK, it's recommended so that you can explore that alter ego to your fullest, flesh that alter ego out, learn it's likes and dislikes, it's taste in adventure, women, food, method of travel, etc. Learn everything you can about your alter ego. The better you know your alter ego (which, by the way, YOU create so it's YOUR choice what your alter ego's tendencies are) the better you can convey the specifics to the reader. And, as we all know, the better we convey this to the reader, the more the reader is drawn in.

So, take a trip to Alter Ego Paradise....AKA storytelling land AKA your personal writer's corner. Just be safe and take all necessary precautions...such as that leather whip for snatching your life out of death's grip...