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Blogs by Pamela C Labud
Summer colds and other things... 8/30/2005 9:09:43 AM
Stuff that can keep you from the keyboard. Hello gentle readers!
I'm afraid to say that this won't be a long blog entry today. After two weeks with a close family member in the hospital and myself getting hit with a killer cold over the weekend, circumstances are just not conducive to being creative. Or, sitting upright for very long.
But, sick family and upper respiratory infections aside, I find there are lots of things that keep me from writing. Surfing the internet is a big one. Watching television is another. I'm so addicted to the cop shows these days. Law and Order, CSI, anything on A&E. Now, TNT has two new ones, The Closer and Wanted. Sheesh! Is this a plot to keep me from writing or what?
Of course, my kids and husband do a pretty good job of it,too. They want their meals cooked and their clothes clean, of all things. Even the dogs sit and stare at me when I'm at the keyboard. Oh yeah, they want food, water, and to be let outside. Selfish animals.
Of course, those are just the external things. There is the age old 'I'm a terrible writer' that keeps me turning away from the computer. Oh yeah, no self confidence can really knock down your defenses. I mean, if I don't like my stuff, who will?
By now you've probably noticed that I'm in whining mode. Sorry about that, but it comes with the territory. Ask any writer and they will tell you the same. Wouldn't it be great if we could all live in ivory towers with nothing to distract us and have endless hours to spend crafting our stories? No, not really. I'm sure I'd find something to keep me from the keyboard. Like gathering navel lint or some such silliness.
The truth is that in order to be a writer you really have to want to write. You have to battle every day to get past those obstacles, internal or otherwise.
Once I heard Mary Jo Putney speak at a conference. She attributed her being a writer to one thing. She is driven. She won't give up because she can't. It's not part of her make up.
I find that even with long periods of not writing, I'm constantly thinking about writing. Characters, plots, and settings, all clamor in my mind and won't leave me alone until I have them down on paper. Many authors I know will tell you that not writing is like not breathing.
That pretty much sums it up for me. Now, where did I put that cold medicine?
