Writer's Block and Other Things

So this is what being a writer feels like. I have a deadline to meet and I’m not really interested or invested in an idea at the moment. Yet the deadline looms.

One of the reasons I decided to start my own blog was to learn how to hold myself accountable to meet deadlines. Deadline. Wednesday. 8:00 AM.

Another reason I decided to start my own blog was to learn how to create my own ideas and expand upon them. It’s 9:16 PM on Monday night…

Journal entry June 2007:
Got A Block?
Write around it! Maybe you're afraid of what you have to
say. Maybe you're too lazy to see a project through to the end.
What makes you decide to not keep going? Are the details too
tedious? Is the organization too difficult? Maybe you think too
much. Maybe you don't think enough.Maybe ideas are right in
front of your face. How do you take them from personal
narrative and give them story life? Rough draft is the first
step, don't you think? Just do it. Get something- anything
on paper. Go for it. It will be o.k. or it will suck...

This writing problem is sometimes called Writer’s Block. When I get stuck (AKA have Writer’s Block) writing my stories, I just keep writing. I put ridiculous things in the story. Just to keep it going. Eventually I find a way through the Block and can fix my work. 

That’s what I’m doing right now.

Just writing. I have no idea if I will scrap this before Wednesday or not.

I got the oil changed in my car today. I take it to the shop on the corner, about a mile away from my house. I’ve been going there for years. For the very first time a young woman mechanic took care of me. She wore the blue pants and blue button up shirt that is the uniform of mechanics- that included her name (Tammera) stitched onto a patch over her heart. She wore makeup and pigtails. She told me her mother’s name had been Nadine and that she’d never ever met another Nadine before. I was enchanted. When my car was ready I told her that her Nadine raised a lovely young woman. She beamed and said that meant a lot to her. And I wished her Merry Christmas.

You know, and the thing is, I debated saying anything at all to her. I thought that maybe her mom didn’t raise her, or that she’d be sad if I said something because her mom has obviously passed away. Or that saying something would be corny. It’s easy to be quiet, to just get in the car and drive away. But she put herself out there for me. She made an impact on me. I decided it was the very least I could do for her. It was right for me to acknowledge her mom in that way. It felt good.

It appears I’ve written myself out of a Block. In full disclosure, I had a few sentences about Dan Patrick wearing his socks inside-out today but I deleted it. The oil changing story was what I needed to talk about.

So this is what being a writer feels like. Another successful blog post. On time? Check! A small idea expanded upon? Check!

Until next time,

Be Good to Yourself,

~Nadine