So, you want to be a writer...

While on vacation a few weeks ago, assisting in the birth of my granddaughter, a friend of mine kept calling the house. She had a book idea she'd decided I had to write.  

Now this story, mind you, has been formulating in her mind for years, forty-five years to be exact. Finishing Gemini Rising, (which she loved) she decided that I was the one to write her story. While the concept was good, she, of course, wanted her name as the author, and she’d be glad to share royalties with me, on the order of 1 or 2%. 

My friend is a wonderful person with whom I have spent many entertaining hours. Consequently, I didn’t want to put her off, nor did I want to write her novel. I kindly suggested that she start putting words to paper and I’d be happy to help her edit as she went along. Of course, I haven’t heard from her, which is usually the way it goes. 

 Everyone wants to be a writer, most don’t have the discipline to become one. Here are a few pointers, aside from blocking off time each day to write: 

1. If you’re working on a book, write a chapter or two. If you’re journaling, journal until you feel you’ve written enough.
2. Do your best to limit distractions: Turn off your cell phone. Put the kids to bed.
3. Read, read, and read some more. Not just your genre, but others too. 
4. If you encounter a block, write about whatever comes into your mind. If you’re blocking there’s usually a reason why. Write it out to get rid of it.
5. Let your mind drift, a stream of consciousness if you will. Relax your body, put fingers to keyboard, and write about whatever pops into your mind.
6. Keep an outline of what you’ve written.

There are plenty of people on the Internet that say you can write a novel in two weeks or a month or a year. You will have to find your own pace. When I write, I give my brain time to work through the problems that come with writing a book. My imagination, cooking away, comes up with alternative paths the story might take. Once done, I choose the best scenarios and off I go.

Writing is an addiction no question about it. Writers will share with you the anxiety, the creativity, and then the realization, of a novel well done. Once you experience the tsunami of creative-being, you will have to learn to discipline yourself to not write. You will have to create time to be a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. 

Writing is also terrific therapy. The person in control of the keyboard can use words as a refuge or to envision a landscape filled with passion, revenge, and eventually, harmony. You can create your own world, your own law of physics, (as long as it is consistent) and lastly, a place where your dreams come true.

The world is your oyster. If you want it to be.