Write On!

Writing is one of the scariest things I've found.

Don't believe me? Perhaps you think writing is only a matter of sitting down for a hour or two with your laptop or a pen in hand and putting down whatever comes into your head.

Perhaps you're right.

But.

To finish a book, you have to keep on putting those words on paper (or the computer screen). All the time a new scene, fresh dialog, different characters, another locale. You can't stop where you are, admiring your own word strings, or the flow is lost and you're left polishing and re-polishing that one single sentence.

To keep writing -- ah, here's where the fun begins -- because continuing on with those pages involves change. Sometimes you don't know where to go; sometimes you don't know what's coming next; sometimes you just haven't the foggiest idea in the world where Chapter 10 will wind up at.

How's that scary, you say? Well, as theologians, philosophers and psychiatrists all agree -- Fear of the unknown is one of the greatest fears we humans face. Dealing with that fear can lead to solutions ranging from nervous incontinence, to simple avoidance of things, to abuse of drugs or alcohol.

So how does a writer keep on getting those words out? The best way I know is to stay in the moment, to focus on whatever is there in front of you, and allow 'the muse of the story' to take you wherever he/she/it wants you to be.

Of course, invariably (as with all things), as soon as you get comfortable there, Reality forcibly knocks on your door. And that's when it gets really hairy: to be required to leave the Muse and handle Reality.

See? I told you writing was scary.