MY
WRITING AFFAIR
By
Judy
Howard
When asked to write a motivational blog, I thought the task
to be easy after all, I work every day from sunup until after sundown.
Writing is like a jealous lover, always angry when I tend to
another’s needs. It poses as a man on the make, waking me in the middle of the
night, “Have you thought of this scene? What is our character going to do
next?” Writing is like a demanding lover, happiest when I am stroking the
computer keys and thinking of nothing else.
And when I try to beg off and enjoy a movie, my seducer
recommends I restrict my viewing to the genre or theme of our book. Sometimes I
long for this insistent suitor to fall asleep so my mind can wander and frolic
in a field of fresh ideas unrelated to the task at hand. But when I wasn’t looking
writing became, a demanding stalker, discovering my digressions and taking them as
his own, twisting and turning them into
another potential story for me to pen and publish. I cannot hide, I cannot
escape.
Motivation is only an issue in the beginning, before your
relationship with writing gets mean and impossible. In the beginning, writing
is like a boy-toy. You play with it. It appears to be a release, just a night
out on the town. But soon those nights on the town fill you with a thrill, a
satisfaction. And before you know it, you are like the druggie on the corner
wondering how you can compromise your existence to keep up the habit …of
writing.
You set the alarm for
daybreak to see your tantalizing lover before work. Because just like a boy toy, writing provides no sustenance. You cannot
divorce the practical relationship of your daytime employment. At work, you can
only think of what you will do with your new lover when you get home. Sleep
will elude you as intricate scenarios for your wooer fill your head. You wish
for more quality time with your new suitor.
Motivation is not a choice. My advice is to sit down at your
computer and tell your mind all it has to do is write one paragraph. Writing
will come alive as you write that paragraph, seize you like a rapist and take
you. And like a dirty novel. You’ll love it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR, JUDY HOWARD
My mailing address is Sun City, California, but you
will rarely find me there. Instead, check out the Auto Club Motor Speedway in
Fontana, California and lift the helmet
visor worn by one of the Mario Andretti racecar drivers. You might find me, one
of the top ranking Amazon authors, strapped in and ready to race.
Or cruise down Route
66 and keep your eyes open for my
Winnebago motorhome I call “The Big Story,”
followed closely behind by my
Smart Car I’ve named “The Short Story.”
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