There are those who will try to convince you writer’s block exists, that it is a curse on writers the world over. I do not agree. There is no bad luck associated with writing. There is only the state of writing or not writing. The first is created by sitting down and stringing words together until they resemble sentences and then putting those sentences into paragraphs and repeating until you have a finished piece, or at least a rough draft.
We all procrastinate. Or nearly all of us and those who don’t are not normal, in my humble opinion.
Somehow the idea (or fact) of facing a blank page brings out the desire to do anything but that. Clean the fridge. The litter. Reorganize my LPs. It doesn’t matter. There always comes a time when in my writing when I feel compelled to do other things to avoid what I am writing. The problem with that is that writing is my career. If I avoid it, I don’t get paid.
Have you ever noticed when you have a good story to tell or a secret, your entire body tingles with the anticipation of sharing it? It is nearly impossible to keep it in. To guard it.
That is the nature of a story. It is how we feel when we start drafting our social media post while in the moment, like we are narrating our own life to an unknown audience. It is a bit wonky, but part of being a writer, I think.
One of the question asked most often of authors is “Where do you get your ideas?” Unfortunately, the answer is rarely helpful.
Ideas are everywhere. I find them on walks, in the shower, while listening to music, eavesdropping (a habit I have despite being taught it was impolite), driving. You get the idea. They lurk wherever life can be found.
I spoke to my son’s school recently about writing and the thing that excited the kids most was when I talked about plot bunnies. True, the photos of cute bunnies helped. A lot. Because who doesn’t like bunnies?
Here is what I told them:
Ideas multiply. It’s a fact. It’s physics. Energy begets energy. Ideas beget ideas.
I get a lot of ideas when I write. The come from what I’ve written, from my research and from my characters themselves. Sometimes it is a line I write that doesn’t quite fit my current story, but that sparks a new one. Most often, though, it is an idea to fill a hole in my plot I hadn’t realized was there.
Life is distracting. There is no doubt about that. Texts ding. Calls ring. Cats need petting. Children want food. There are so many distractions. Even ideas can be distractions.
There is something about the new and shiny that demands attention. Even new ideas. They are exciting and the urge to drop everything and follow where they lead is a strong one. Unfortunately, it is also a great way to end up with a hundred unfinished manuscripts.
There comes a time in everyone’s life when you have to embrace who you are, faults and flaws included, although we may try to avoid being that truthful with ourselves. We love to tell ourselves lies—calories don’t count on Sunday, I’ll make up for it tomorrow. In the end, though, we are ourselves whether we own up to it or not. These lies hamper us and our writing.
At the beginning of summer my husband urged me to take a break from work, which surprised me. I am a stay-at-home-working mom. I make my own schedule so I can take care of our son. How was I supposed to take a break? Wasn’t my shorter work day enough?
He didn’t think so.
It’s been a long while since I posted anything. All I will offer in way of excuse is that life caught me by the pen and I got lost in the creative vortex. It happens. Time slips away when words fill the page. I won’t say I am sorry. It has been a wildly creative time for me and one I needed.
If you’re like me, you are probably setting goals for the new year—promises to exercise daily or eat right. It’s the season for starting over and re-committing to good habits. There’s nothing like feeling you have a clean slate and can move forward freely into a new and improved you. But while you’re picking good habits, don’t forget your writing.
I run a small book club that actually reads the selected books. We are a tight group that loves books and sharing them, beyond our group reads. We have a page set up on Goodreads and talk about our lives, books and all things story in whatever form they exist. They are my tribe. The people who understand me. We may not always read the same books or genres, but we share a love of story and the feel of books in our hands. We are true readers.