Writers Block

Books are hard.

English is hard.

Writing is hard.

Words hate me.

Let me give you a little backstory…

A few days ago I was watching a documentary about ancient Egypt and I had one of those “what if” scenarios pop into my head. Like “what if the pyramids had never been built, what would the world be like” type of scenarios.

I shared my thoughts with my husband and do you want to know what the man told me? He said “you should write a book about

He said “you should write a book about that.”

Now, we say this to each other a whole awful lot for people who don’t write fiction. And for a moment I just dismissed our little conversation as daily gab.

But then I got to thinking…

What’s stopping me?

Why haven’t I ever tried to put my wild ideas for fun sci-fi adventures down on paper?

Why don’t I give this one story a shot?

I did some research to see if anyone else had already written a story with a similar plot because… well… plagiarism laws…

No one had!

So I started to come up with characters, their backstories, their names, what their favorite food is, you name it I came up with it.

I started mapping out the plot, how the main story arc would unfold, the whole kit and caboodle.

All of what I thought would be the hard part was done! Now just to write it all out right?

NOPE!!

Turns out, the hard part is making the whole story flow together.

The dialog, the small interactions between characters, all of that is the hard stuff. And I don’t know where to begin.

As a journalist, writers block isn’t an ailment that commonly befalls me. Everyday I am given snippets of information that I type up into a story or article. I don’t have to make anything up, I don’t have to be an artsy-fartsy kind of person, I just read, then write.

Journalism is soooo much easier than writing a novel.

At least with news, I only have to deal with hard facts.

For the book though?

I have to figure out how little Timmy saves the day all while making the rest of the book seem interesting.

You have all been here with me from the start of my journalism career.

You walked down the aisle with at my wedding.

You have heard everything there is to know about my hellhounds… uh I mean my sweet cuddly puppers.

For almost a year now, my inner thoughts have been printed across three newspapers for thousands of people to read.

Now as I start this new journey of writing a fun Sci-Fi adventure, you can bet your bottom dollar you’re going to hear ALLLLL about it.

I am not challenged like this very often.

I have always been a traveler of the path of least resistance.

When there is something in my way, I don’t move it, I don’t climb over it, I find a way around.

I have no idea how I ended up us a “go with the flow” person.

I’m surrounded by mountain climbers and ceiling breakers.

My mom waitressed her way through college all while raising my two older siblings all by herself. And now at the young age of 55 she’s just had a full knee replacement and is an absolute trooper.

My sister has taken her talent of talking and has made an amazing career for herself selling fancy window blinds to rich people.

My brother just landed his dream job after 10 years of applying.

My best friend just gave birth to an almost 11 pound baby and was up and walking in just a few hours!!

I have a gazillion and one examples about how my friends and family are crazy rockstars who would tear down a mountain just to see what’s on the other side.

Maybe its time I follow their lead for once and as my mom always says, “suck it up buttercup”

Books are hard.

English is hard.

Writing is hard.

Words hate me.

This book hasn’t beaten me yet… but it sure is close.

Remember to love your neighbors,

Love your pets,

Wear your mask,

And please be kind to any novelists you may know.