Crazy Daze

By Natalie Bright

The month of May has always been whirlwind of stuff, and I can never seem to get control. What is it about May?

I’ll spare you the list because I’m sure your obligations are the same or even worse. What suffered this month is my writing. And no matter how much I worry and fret, I can’t go back and recover those productive hours. They’re gone. Poof. And I’m left with an unfinished story, patiently waiting, still digging a hole in my brain. It will take another several weeks to get back into the time and setting, maybe even longer to find the voice of my characters.

Which brings me to this question—why do writers put themselves through this kind of anguish? Maybe for you there’s a better word; torture, agony, misery? Seriously, some days I’m certain my head will explode if I can’t find thirty minutes of quiet time to write. Crazy. That’s the word. I’m just flat out psycho. We force our brains from reality to daydream, and back again, pushing our physical selves beyond the limit to get everything done so that we can disappear into our make-believe worlds. Does that sound normal to you?

And yet there it is. One chapter, or paragraph, maybe just one sentence. It’s done. It’s the key to the whole plot. Members of your critique group exclaim with excitement; “I love that.”  “Don’t change that. It’s perfect.” “Good job.”  “Send that out right away.” And you do. And it’s a best-seller. And you have legions of fans anxiously waiting for your next book…

Oh, I’m sorry – what was this blog post about? This month has been crazy!

Happy May!