Writers aren't exactly people, they're a lot of people trying to be one person. F.Scott Fitzgerald

Friday, August 27, 2010

Writers block?

         I have read about writer's bloc. Horror stories about staring at a blank page and the words won't come. I confess I've not had that experience;however, I seem to have a variation on writer's block.
        I call the monster 'Revision Block'. Staring at a completed manuscript at least twice,maybe three times a day and nothing,absolutely nothing can induce me to type more than a new sentence or two. Perhaps change a word here and there,but I am not fooling myself. I am merely changing how I am saying something the majority of the time. Am I actually making the story better? Did I improve on the character's arc/ is the plotting better. Did I follow the three act formula? Did I use the six core competencies? Is my hook good enough? Did I show,not tell? Are my plot points in place? Did I end each scene with a conflict?Did the final battle end with a resolution? Is that deep POV?Did I head hop? Are my characters likeable,will the reader care about their struggles? Did I..Aarrrrrghhh...I don't know. Enough already!
         Am I an insane masochist for even attempting to be a writer? Possibly,no probably.All I know is my characters come to me and ask me to write their stories and bring them to life on paper. 
They tell me what to say,how to say it,and where they want to go. Sometimes they surprise me,enchant me or bring me to tears.But never do they bore me or desert me and for that I am grateful. After all we are in this together until the end.
       I miss them when they move on. I like to see them happy, however things don't always work out that way for each of them. Some are killed,some walk away hand in hand with their true love. Some turn out to be serial killers,liars or cowards. All I know for sure is they rarely bore me and they don't let me down. 
      Writers block? Thank God,no.I trust my three muses to keep that from happening.I do wish;however, they would assist with sentence structure,word tenses,spelling, grammar issues and revisions.
       I will be very glad when they return from vacationing in Ireland and I have to admit to being  a bit annoyed,that I wasn't invited to join them.I suppose someone had to stay home and finish the novel
     It seems I was elected. No one informed me,we were even voting. Apparently,being the writer is not part of fairness in the workplace rule,nor is writing any part of a democracy. Maybe, I should vote myself, King or Queen and change all the rules to suit myself. I wonder where I lost control and how do I get it back,if I ever had it.
    Could I stop writing? I don't think so. I can't not write. My fingers twitch and new characters whisper in my head until I sit down at the computer or pick up a pen or pencil and begin to write their story.

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