Guest Blogger Steve Fisher writes. . . (and I love it) . . .
Writing. We love it; we hate it. Anyone who has put pen to paper, or in this modern age, fingers to keyboards, understands that sentiment. It’s a process both joyous and painful. When it works—that is, when our brain clicks into gear and coherent thoughts manage to escape the gray matter—there’s no more exciting feeling. When emotions actually materialize on the page, or screen, leaving you feeling drained in the best of ways, it’s the best of all possible worlds.
On a rare occasion I have found myself laughing at something one of my characters said or crying because of something they did. And I didn’t feel like the mystical God creating those words or actions that I was at that moment. Once, I actually walked out my door and ran into my characters. People who seemed like mirror images of what I had just written. It was like something from The Twilight Zone. And it was glorious.
But there are also the times that can only be described as writer’s hell. When the dreaded BLOCK forms. There is no worse feeling of helplessness. No one to call or text or email with a magical solution. It hits us all—the newbie and the pro. We go for runs or walks or drives, we drink, we turn to mind-altering substances of dubious legality. Yet none of that works.
Ironically, the secret cure is within each and every one of us, and it’s very simple. Write. Write anything. Don’t worry about whether it’s good or bad. Don’t evaluate it for worthiness. As in the old Nike ads, just do it. You may end up eventually deleting most of it, but it may just be the jump start you need to write something you’ll read later and say, “Wow! Who wrote this?!!” In a good way.
Steve Fisher has written for television, film, stage and print for more than 3 decades. He sleeps in formaldehyde to keep his youthful good looks.
Marlene’s musings: “Like something from The Twilight Zone.” Steve Fisher writes what I think. How did he do that? I’ve never even met him . . . cue The Twilight Zone theme song . . . Like he says . . . Just write!
