Knock-knock…
Me: “Hi! Can I help you? Oh, you want me to start writing that novel I’ve been dreaming about? That sounds like a wonderful idea. Is it possible for you to come back a bit later, please?”
Knock-knock…
Me: “Maybe- if I don’t answer, perhaps they will go away. “
Knock-knock…
Me: “So, you are back. Knocking at the door of my writers mind. I see you through the peep hole. I know you are there. I am just not ready yet. I am so busy with so much to do. Check back with me later.”
Knock-knock…
Me: “Is it that time again? Boy, time flies. I know I promised to be ready, but things came up. They always do. Family needs. Home responsibilities. Baking. Thrifting. Football season. Just about anything. Let’s reschedule.”
Knock-knock…
Me: “I’ve been waiting for you. If I cannot count on anything else in my life these days, I can count on your persistence. Shall we look at next month when things calm down a bit?”
Knock-knock…
Me: “Okay, let’s do this. Let’s meet every morning, early, before the sun rises and everyone wakes up. That’s the time of day I am most productive!”
Knock-knock…
Me: “Yeah, so apparently baking is also super wonderful during those early morning hours. I’ve also learned if I don’t workout first thing, it never happens. Early morning may not be the best plan, let’s try nighttime.”
Knock-knock…
Me: “Well, that was a debacle. I’ve never been a nighttime gal. I mean I can hardly put together a dinner meal each night, so it looks like it’s back to the drawing board—I mean writing board.”
Knock-knock…
Me: “I was thinking perhaps I need a proper office dedicated to writing. Maybe with a fresh new space I will be inspired. This is a sound plan.”
Knock-knock…
Me: “Seems the office is so perfectly located I spend much of my time watching out my window and dreaming up ways to lure the sweet birds to my outdoor deck. Once I have them eating regularly from my homemade teacup suet feeders I should be ready to write.”
Knock-knock…
Me: “I know a promise is a promise. Maybe blogging will get my writing juices flowing. That should remind me how much I love writing, and the rest will fall into place.”
Knock-knock…
Me: '“Welp, birds are fed. Office is relocated and renovated. Blogs are flowing. What other excuses and distractions can I possibly come up with to postpone sitting down to focus on writing the novel in my mind? Oh, I know, I’ll organize all the notes I’ve taken over the past many years which are scattered upon my desk, computer and numerous notebooks.”
Knock-knock…
Me: “I could not believe just how long it took for me to sort through all the little papers, notebooks, looseleaf pagers of scribbles, diagrams and writings. I bought a beautiful accordion folder with an individual space for each character. I sorted every last piece and even drew up a Ven diagram. Surely the time has come.”
Knock-knock…
Me: “It seems nothing is working except for procrastination. Oh and in case you were wondering, that’s firing on all cylinders. Perhaps, this just isn’t meant to happen.”
Me: “Hello? Woo hoo? Is anyone there? I understand if you are struggling to trust me. To be fair, I’m hesitant to trust myself. However, I thought you should be the first to know I think I am ready. I had breakfast with a dear friend the other morning, and she rekindled the little flailing ember in my writer’s heart, and I can feel it coming alive. I think the time has come. At least I pray it has.”
Knock-knock…
Me: “Well, hello there. You’ll be happy to know I spent four serious hours working on my novel. I began by unearthing and trying to make sense out of all my little bits of paper with ideas on them, accordion folder full of character development and diagrams of how I wanted the story to unfold.”
Knock-knock…
Me: “Come on in, and let me show you what I did. I spent the morning working on not just one character, but two. I detailed their lives, giving them depth and color. I delved into where they live, with whom and what they watch on television. I even spent some time researching their jobs so the story will be true and believable.”
Knock-knock…
Me: “If I do this every day it should become a habit, right? I hope so, because I am really enjoying finally focusing on this idea that has been in my soul for so long. I’ll tell you this, the book has the patience of a saint to have waited on me to write it this long. I look forward to your knock tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that … and thank you for not giving up on me.”
Me with determination, love and a plot,
A little thing you should know: When it comes to developing characters, I’m solid. I know their names, what they look like and what they like to eat. I know where they like to shop, what their dogs name is and where they live. They’ve even begun to share their deep, dark secrets with me too. Some of them I love. Others I am not so enamored with and others I have yet to meet. My heart breaks for one, roots for another and dreams about all the others. Writing is not a little thing you should know about me, it’s a great big beautiful wonderful thing.