Writer's Life - Issue 6

I don’t have much to say for this month’s writer’s life. I’ve been a bad writer and have barely touched my work in progress in a couple of weeks now. Part of the problem may just be the situation that the characters have thrown themselves into, leaving me wondering how to write it. But, honestly, that’s really not much of an excuse. It’s a couple of characters escaping a dungeon, involving fire and sword fighting. Fire and swords are my bread and butter. Conflict is the jelly that I mix in to make an oh, so delicious morning toast.

Some might argue that perhaps I have writer’s block, or that my muse has left me. Honestly, my muse has me chained to my laptop, so I know that’s not it. And writer’s block only really happens to me when I’ve written something so far out of character that the only solution is to go back and rewrite the scene/chapter, and then I’m good. Writer’s block also occasionally hit while writing Matanzas, but that was more a matter of stress and my ever growing loathing of that particular project.

No, the problem is quite simply (and also not very simply) that I’ve let life get in the way. Usually my writing is there for me, and I use it to get through things. Lately, it’s not been so easy, and I’ve taken a break, although I continue to think about my novel, and I’ve been reading voraciously.

The truth of the matter is, while it is ideal to write every single day, sometimes, it’s just not possible. Sometimes, you just get burned out from life and stress and everything else that the smallest road block in writing can leave you closing your word processing program and setting your computer aside. Sometimes the stress is so overwhelming that all you can do is just take tiny steps back toward writing.

The point is, taking a break is okay on occasion, especially if you’re income doesn’t rely on you writing. Giving up, however, is not an option. It doesn’t matter how grueling or stressful or difficult writing can be, especially when so much else is going on in your life. Remember that you write because it’s what you love. You chose to write. Or perhaps writing chose you. In the end, it doesn’t really matter. It’s a love, it’s a desire, it’s an addiction. Love it, and know that, when you’re ready to come back to it, it will be sitting there, waiting for you, like a loyal puppy waiting by the door for his master to return from work.

Even now, sitting down to write this, I’m beginning to feel better. Funny, though, how not having much to say can amount to so many words.