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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: The Manuscript (04/29/10)
It has become an almost human entity. I stare helplessly at it - again - flat words against a white canvas stealing my life, my time, my attention. I can't leave it, but detest the idea of picking it up. Terrified of having yet another time-sucking session, I leave it there on the table - the latest in a line of "finalists". Imposters, all of them!

It suddenly loses its power to woo me as I turn to march determinedly into the kitchen and reach into the sterile interior of my refrigerator for comfort, for food.

That never lets me down. That never stares back at me with disapproval like those sheets of paper do with their one-dimensional lines that march perpetually on. I chew what I'd carelessly shoved into my mouth, barely aware of what it is, while the words in my mind cartwheel aimlessly.

I am worn out with trying to get it right.

A successful real estate trainer, Floyd Wickman, once said that "Why" is the single most powerful question in the English language. "Why worry about why I'm doing what I'm doing?" I ask myself. As the words milling about in my mind rally together to form the answer I already know, I say them aloud into the empty sparsely furnished room. "Because understanding "why" I do what I do is the single most powerful driving force behind anything I might ever accomplish..

"Because, when the going gets tough, the tough will keep going." A phrase from some half-remembered movie comes to mind, helping me realize that knowing why I write can make the difference between quitting on a successful career in writing or not. Some people write to be heard, some to express, some to impress. I write to express.

By this point, I am getting restless; there's work to do.

As I shake myself from my gloom and doom posturing, I encourage myself with what author and speaker, Virelle Kidder, once taught, "How do you know God didn't call you write? He's might have something for you to say…"
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Beth LaBuff 
05/07/10
ah, the writer's quandry... I think there are many on this site that can relate to this and will "commiserate" with you! :)
Jan Ackerson
05/08/10
The 'almost' personification in the first few paragraphs was really well done, a great hook that drew me in.

Did you catch the boo-boo in the last sentence yet?

This is a strong entry, and I'm betting that the writer has lots more.
Mildred Sheldon
05/11/10
I enjoyed this very much. Sounds like a lot of writers trying to put pen to paper in hopes of finding a gem in a hay stack.
Mildred Sheldon
05/11/10
I enjoyed this very much. Sounds like a lot of writers trying to put pen to paper in hopes of finding a gem in a hay stack.