Momentum

The glow of Macbook peered back at him from the dark room like a giant sinister eye. It new what he knew. He hadn't typed a word in over an hour. Writer was lost in his thoughts. Macbook could see its rectangular glowing reflection shimmering in Writer's pupils.

Write it thought. Write!

But Writer just sat and stared. He had a thousand thoughts in sixty minutes. They passed, but not one good enough to evoke even the stroke of a key. Several times Writer had placed his fingers on the keys only to withdraw them and bury his face behind his tired hands.

Finally one of Writer's eyes peaked out from between the spindly fingers that covered his face. His head raised as if something was building behind his shimmering eyes.

Come on, thought Macbook. Type man. Type.

Writer laid his hands on the keyboard again. He smiled slowly, the corners of his mouth climbing his face like rising afternoon shadows. He felt the wheels of creatively beginning to rotate. Slowly, deliberately he struck key after key. The train had left the station. Writer had his momentum back. Macbook glowed warmly throughout the night watching him type word after word, paragraph after paragraph, chapter after chapter. The train throttled on through the night.

As the warm sun broke through Writers window he shut the screen. Macbook went fast to sleep as did Writer. They both dreamed of what he would type next.

Encouragement for walking the long hard road to publication.

I read a great article by Richard White in a guest post he did for the good folks over at Novel Publishing Group. As I'm chopping away at my very first novel I find myself strangled by a gamut of emotions. Sometimes I'm really excited about living the dream of writing a book that is picked up and published. At other times I'm gripped by the shear terror of tons and tons of rejection letters that seem to inevitably haunt those who write.

I find myself these days enjoying the ignorant bliss of writing without fully knowing what to expect once I'm done and seeking a literary agent and ultimately a publisher. Articles like the one by Richard White really inspire me to never give up. Whatever your pursuit or dream keep swinging the ax. The forest will eventually clear before you.

Epilogue

I'm elbow deep in the middle of writing my first novel. This is something I've taken several runs at over the years but not until age forty one have I found my rhythm. I currently find myself about thirty thousand words deep in a half complete mystery cop fiction novel.

I hope to begin to connect with other fiction and mystery writers through this blog. Like most of you who write I'm finding that there is a wealth of information out there about getting your first book in the hands of a publisher. However, I like the personal touch. I want to hear from people like you who have hands on experience with your own ups and downs of writing. I love to hear the war stories of people who have the audacity to pour their heart out on the blank page. Please feel free to tell me your victories and successes as well as your disappointments, frustrations and failures. I want to hear it all. From conception of an idea to the birth of a brand new baby book. Send me your rejection stories, your repeated attempts at getting published. If you care to share let me know what to expect, what to watch out for and what to NEVER EVER do.

My hope is that you can help steer me in the "write" direction. Sorry, I know that was bad. Not sure it even qualifies for a pun. But, my sincere hope is that i can in turn help other aspiring writers in this murky process of putting pen to paper and then paper to publisher. I'm asking you to "write all wrongs" so we can all learn together some simple things not to do in the writing process. I'm new at this so feel free to guide me to the best place to openly communicate about the struggles of writing.

Thanks ahead for the help. I look forward to what you have to say.

Hoping to write all wrongs,

Jim Parker