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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: FERHOODLE (confuse or mix-up) (03/03/16)
A Writer's Woes


I sat down in my desk chair, opened my laptop and stared at the blank page.
Hmm......what to write about today? Do I want to write fiction or non-fiction? Do I want to work on my novel or my short story? How about those poems I've got hidden away with good intentions to self-publish......Do I want to work on those? Nah....not today. I think I'll just do some studying.

So I hit my browser and googled......what are the most common misused words? Ah ha.....I tap on the link to Wikipedia. What an impressive list. When writing an article about money....do I use a lot or allot? Or how about accept or except.....affect or effect?.....the list goes on and on.

Then I type in....what are the most common misspelled words and wham....boy did I get some results. Is the proper word...their.....there...... or they're? Or how about neccessary or necessary.... then there's the dreaded who, whom, and whose....and even spell check can't catch them all! What dilemmas and confusion we, as writer's, face each and every day.

After an hour or so, I got kind of tired and overwhelmed while studying the “grammar aspect of writing” so I decided to dig a little deeper and do some research. I googled “creative writing tips” which in my opinion, these tend to definitely get a little redundant at times. But I did find an article written by Elizabeth Sim entitled “8 Simple Tips to Write Better” that really gives some amazing and unique ideas. The overall instruction while implementing the tips was to..... “Step Our Of Your Comfort Zone” and for me this is sometimes very difficult. I love to read a well written humorous piece but when it comes to sharing my own words, I tend to dwell on the serious side of life. Maybe I need to really “let loose” and try my hand at humor! What'ya think?

Or maybe I need to try writing a really technical non-fiction piece since I'm kind of stuck on fiction. But then I have to research....ugh! I think I'll just pick up my current book and read for a little while instead.

So I shut down my laptop, grabbed my current novel and began reading. I'm really getting caught up in the story and all of a sudden I read a paragraph that describes a scene where the main character is lost in the woods and desperately thirsty. She drudges through a thick forest, lips parched, throat dry, and then stumbles across a beautiful creek where the water is overflowing, clear and cool, and she's able to get a drink of water. The writer described the entire setting so vividly, I felt like I was crouched right down beside the character in the story, quenching my thirst also. Excited, I closed my book, threw it down on the night stand and ran back to my computer. I began writing a scene similar to the one I'd just read.....but my words just would not flow quite as smoothly as hers, of course! Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

The moral of the story is that all writers face their own mixed up, confused, and sometimes botched words while striving to become the best writer they can be. The genre doesn't matter, the plot itself or even the character's, and the scenes don't always have to follow the “rules”. Sometimes we just have to go with our gut instinct and that's what's so awesome about being a writer.

Each word we choose works with the next to create a piece of art that has just a little piece of us within the whole. If it reads like someone else....we haven't put enough of our own personalities into the piece. And even though we have become so “technical”.... there is just something about the written word. Because regardless whether the piece is written by hand with a pencil and a notebook or compiled using the latest software......the words will still be alive long after we're dead and gone.

Just look at some of the classics....Gone With The Wind....The Hobbit.....War and Peace....and then there's the Holy Bible. It has withstood the passage of all time and tells the greatest story ever written. Do you think those writer's faced their own woes?.....I'm sure they did...... but it sure was worth it after all!
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This article has been read 315 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Pat Small
03/10/16
You certainly captured our woes. I thought it was well-written.
C D Swanson 
03/11/16
Great job with this!

God bless~
Bonnie Bowden 
03/14/16
I could definitely relate to the writing woes written here. But the only way to get better is to keep trying.
Ruth Walker
03/16/16
I developed a strong coffee habit due to the problem you relate here! 😄There was a tense problem that caused me some confusion. Sometimes you "sat" at your computer (past), other times you "open" it (present) - and you flip back and forth between tenses a few times throughout.
Watch your apostrophes, eg last par. "writer's" should not be possessive.

Novel, short story, fiction, non-fiction and study - it sounds like you're really putting pen to paper! Good for you! Hope you're enjoying it.
Loni Bowden-Horn
03/17/16
I certainly identified with your war on words. There is so much confusion to writing, showing versus telling. Creative vs plain - first person, second person. The list goes on. I liked this fun read.