Writing and Living in the Real World 

Sometimes writing is not as hard as integrating real life into the routine. I love inventing characters, spinning plots, and developing challenges. But, writing is a solitary and isolating experience. Step out of the life you’ve created in this writing environment can slap you down hard. I’ve certainly experienced this and it’s thrown me  into uncharted waters with a busted rudder. Because I’m not emotionally open enough to share such personal deficits, I’ll hand it to my character, Dimitri, of the upcoming Ivan’s Wife:

I walked off, feeling as old as the withered field surrounding me. Maybe it was the fire or spending days unconscious in the hospital, but my muscles ached, and I was drained. No surprise. I had navigated my life with a busted rudder, moving sluggishly through the muck of a confusing world. Mental anguish takes its toll. 

Ironically, it’s sometimes easier to pick up the pen. I can work it all out in the story…but, when the day is over and the pages are closed…I am alone wondering why my characters seem to be able to work it out, and I can’t. Especially, in light of the truth that the characters came from me.