Tuesday, January 31, 2012 # 9:46 PM
What if ?
What If ?
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| The Archduke and Sophie |
Whenever I spoke with my children about the consequences of their decisions, I often mentioned the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. It may seem like an obscure reference, but it is actually very fitting. For those who are not familiar with him, Franz Ferdinand was the archduke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was a nephew and the heir to one of the most powerful rulers in the beginning of the twentieth century. He and his wife, Sophie, were visiting Sarajevo in Bosnia (then a province of the empire). when a young assassin tried to kill them as they rode in their open car in a parade His gun jammed. The assassin was walking away from the official motorcade and had given up, when the archduke's car turned and started down the street he was walking on. The archduke's chauffeur had lost his way back to the hotel and took this wrong street by accident. The assassin seized this second opportunity to complete his mission and this time did not fail. He killed both Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. The assassination is often cited as the catalyst for a series of events that eventually led to the First World War. All because the chauffeur decided to turn down a particular street.
It seems like a simple, inconsequential choice, but the chauffeur's decision led to the deaths of thousands. One can argue that the outcome of World War I and the attempt to bankrupt Germany also contributed to the start of World War II. So, the chauffeur could be ultimately blamed for both major world catastrophes. What if he had chosen a different street? Or remembered his paper with the instructions back to the hotel? The point to this is that every time we make a decision, even the smallest one, we may set in motion major events in the world - good or bad.
As a writer, I love the phrase, 'What if?'. Isn't that how all stories begin to form? I'm sure H. G Wells asked himself 'What if...." as he stared up at Mars one evening. Or Mark Twain asked himself, 'What if.. someone could travel back to the court of King Arthur?" The curiosity of the fiction writer or the playwright fuels every plot twist and turn. 'What if' takes each story in a new direction with every decision the writer makes. For me, the many answers to that wonderful question are what makes writing so much fun. Labels: curiosity, discovery, Franz Ferdinand, plot twists, what if?, writing
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