I’ve been putting off finishing up my next manuscript because it means change and this last year has already meant a lot of change for me. Sometimes as writers, we come to live with our characters so long, they become a part of us - or at least a part of our ‘virtual’ family. And when major change is on the horizon for them, you take the ride also and live what they live, and feel what they feel.
That can be good and it can be bad.
It’s good because in order to tell a good story filled with emotion, you have to get into the character’s head. You have to see the world through their eyes and live the scenes like they would. It’s bad because of all the before mentioned reasons which means that as a writer, you cry, you hurt and ultimately, you are forced to grow with them – and growth can be very painful.
Most writers understand this and I’m not sure if that makes us an eclectic bunch or a group that simply lives on the verge of insanity. Either way, it’s our reality and our characters and our stories come to define much of who we are.
But now that I’m caught up on the housework, the extra jobs I’ve had to do, writing pursuits and other diversions, I have no more excuses to avoid the inevitable and I need to get crackin’.
So, although I will continue to look for “Life Savers” and share them with you, I’ll only be posting them every four or five days since I seriously need to chain myself to the computer and head into the winds of change because the sooner I get these voices out of my head and onto paper, the sooner I can sleep at night without feeling like the ghosts of stories past and present will haunt me forever!
And that brings me to this week’s “Life Saver”;
“Even a mosquito doesn’t get a slap on the back until he starts to work.”So wish me luck and offer a toast with creative juices – I’m going to need it since I now have to get to work,…even though a good stiff slap on the back sounds a LOT more appealing at the moment….;-)
