Writer's Block? You've Got to Be Kidding

[Peg Herring]

Writer's block is not a problem for this girl. I have so many ideas I can't get to them all. They remain in my computer under file names like "Carrie" or "Trauma girl" or even "started novels." Most of them will probably never see an end, simply because of two very large problems: Life and Writing.

First, Life doesn't want you to write. Life wants you to do stuff: dust, visit, pay, go, help, eat, shop, watch, chat, scrub, make, transport, sew, mow, and grow. There's more of course, but you get the idea.

Writing wants you to work on the surer bits, the things that are already moving. The sequel to the first published book, the sequel to the book that will soon be published, even the sequel to the book that the publisher is at this moment considering. They all demand precedence over that cool idea for a historical or the two contemporary mysteries, started but nowhere near completion. And let's not even talk about promotion, the greatest time-eater of a writer's day.

So don't talk to me about writer's block. Talk to me about putting a few more hours into the day when I can write. Maybe then I can tell all my stories. Nah, probably not.