K.I.T.

My biggest fear about writing has been not being able to complete a story because of writer’s block.  Over the years, whether in casual conversation or in a workshop or seminar, I’ve heard countless experiences of authors going crazy over not being able to write the next thought, scene, or chapter. I’ve heard of writers losing their muse for days, weeks, and even months on end. And since most writers say that they have experienced this a time or two in their years of writing, I dreaded the day that it would happen to me.

And that time has come…well, sort of.  After completing my second novel in 2006, I confess, that two years later, I have not completed my third novel. Yes, I started it in 2006, but still have yet to finish it.  Writer’s block?  Yeah, I had a block all right. But not the block from lack of thought. I think my block was worse.  I had writer’s time block. With going through years of beginning and ending engineering contract assignments, uncontrolled hours and working as much as 70 hours a week, constantly updating resumes, going on interviews, then, finally–the big one–relocation (that package includes 2.5 months of hotel living, searching out new area, looking for a place to live, flying home to have your things packed and moved to storage, arranging to have your things moved from storage and moving into your new home, finding doctors, a dentist, an optomotrist, a hair stylist, a killer eyebrow archer and the likes), over the past two years, my quality writing time has been shot to pieces. Yes, I still wrote, but it was very little and to me, quite choppy and very disjointed.

I think every once in a while, every individual’s life gets so congested that they cannot get done all of the things they want and need to do. Then we hear about prioritizing and how if it’s important to you, you will find a way. That we have to make sacrifices for the things that are necessary. True. But every once in a while, there’s that stormy period when what you must put first are the basic needs of food, clothes, and shelter, and that doing that takes up most of your waking time unless you want to sacrifice sleep and good health.  You can force yourself to write, as I did, but it may not be as good as your writing when you’re relaxed and in the zone.

And even worse than what I think writer’s block will be like, is having “brilliant” thought after thought buzzing in your head at the most inopportune time where all you can do it jot it down, but never have the time to work it in your story.  The killer is thinking of what you believe to be the best scene ever, but not having the time to sit down and develop it on the computer screen. That’s got to be worse than any writer’s block.  That’s like straight torture.

So what does a writer do when their world is caught up in a whirlwind? When the waves of life are 20 feet high or the storms of life are raging and …well, you get the pic.  But the answer is to simply Keep In Touch. Yes, just like our novels, sometimes life itself can have so many twists and turns that we don’t know whether we’re coming or going. But the best thing to do in those situations is to not panic or stress it, but to make it a point to keep your literary feet wet. Keep your big french tipped toe in the water. How?  A writer with a hectic life can keep in touch by taking five minute to jot down those random thoughts precise enough so that it will be clear when order is restored. Keeping in touch can also be done by slipping in a little reading here and there at the doctor’s office, while waiting for car service, etc. Whether it’s a page of something a day or listening to audio to and from work in the car. Maybe go over a few points in your Elements of Style handbook or reading a Writer’s Digest article at lunch.  Or even using 15 minutes of the lunch hour to write a paragraph or a page. Do carefree blogging early in the morning or late at night. Anything to keep those fingers periodically dancing on a keyboard and the mind tossing around words so they won’t develop literary arthiritis.

Keeping in touch feeds that writing fire and gives you the drive to look for that window of opportunity to get your writing done.  Ever been thrown off a workout plan and find that after two or 3 weeks of non-activity, it’s hard to get back to the routine?  And the longer you stay away from the gym, the harder it is to go back (you keep saying you’ll start NEXT Monday)?  So it can be with writing.  The longer you remove your mind from the literary world, the harder it can be to get back into the flow of a writing routine even once you have the available time again.

It was hectic, but I did just that.  I blogged whenever I could, I read articles and pages from books on dialogue, wrote a few articles for Urbanburnout.com and The Black Biker Magazine, the two magazines I freelance for. And I wrote tid bits on my novel here and there when I had my bearings.  And kept in the know of the material for my book.  It all kept my mind active and now that things are back to normal, I rolled right into a consistent writing schedule to finally finish number three (and already got my sights on number four).  I can honestly say that even though it’s taking a while, I feel like I’ve gained during my downtime and that I’m producing a better story than what I would have had if I finished it in 2006 or last year.

So the next time you’re caught up in the tornado of life, or the volcano of lfe erupts, or the dust storm of life….ok, ok….just realize that that too, will pass. So don’t beat yourself up about not meeting your daily writing goal.  But always strive to DO SOMETHING regularly to K.I.T. with your writing.

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