How chaos theory informs my writing

“The butterfly effect” was the initial inspiration behind my novels: the concept that a butterfly flapping its wings could be the beginnings of a tornado.

It’s an example of “chaos theory” — which I think can be applied to everyday life.

It’s the idea that you can be going through life relatively carefree and then a tornado can come along and knock you off your feet.

And these tornados can have unexpected beginnings, so they are not something you can plan for.

One example of such a tornado is an unexpected death — especially a suicide. Even though we know that were all going to die, when someone takes their own life it shocks and unsettles us.

When some takes their life, everyone around them is affected. Not just the people who knew them, but the people who know those people, particularly the ones they choose to lean on.

A number of years ago a friend of a friend took their own life. I was one step removed from what was happening, but because I was the person my friend chose to lean on, the suicide had a massive impact on my life.

I’d never met the person who killed themselves, so I didn’t know anything about their life. Everything I knew about them focused on their death.

My friend changed many things about their life, including ending an unhappy relationship and changing careers — citing “life is too short” as the reason for both.

Although my friend was devastated by their friend’s death, in a strange way they also benefitted from it: it reminded them of how fleeting our lives are.

I decided to use my writing to explore how the deaths of others affect people and the many ways in which a suicide can be a butterfly flapping its wings.