Coffee With David

I had an interesting conversation with a fellow writer and friend at an open mic last night. The focus of the conversation was why it felt difficult to write certain stories or scenes and what it was like to slug through them. As I shared with him, so I shall share with you. When my muse is pouring words as slow as maple syrup that has been removed from a freezer, I know one thing—I am doing something wrong with what I am writing.

It is amazing how it works. The muse or the mind will “pull the brakes” on what I am writing, bringing to a crawl or complete stop. Sometimes the error is in the voice. Other times it is because I am starting in the wrong place or it can be from not writing the scene from the point of view. During this struggle I fell as if I am pounding my head into the table top as I get frustrated with precious writing time slipping away and all I can do is struggle to find where I have “blocked the stream” of flowing words.

When I do find the cause and fix the problem, the words return like water from an undammed stream.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com for more on the articles, blogs, novels, poems, and short stories I write.