Life After

After a long hiatus in writing, I'd thought I'd give it a go, and scrape a little of the rust off.

Life After

Lyndsey sat on the fountain, looking out across the courtyard. She watched as the people passed by in pairs. Some holding hands, some arguing, some just comfortable in their silence. But each in the presence of his or her soul mate. What a strange world she lived in.

She remembered the stories she'd grown up hearing from her mother, about how she'd had finally found the man of her dreams in a grocery store after years of searching: In a world before SoulSearch Enterprises.

Despair crept up on her like the ivy growing up the face of the brick building across the street. She longed to be transported back in time, to a place where her soul mate couldn't be selected for her by a computer program. To a time when a woman could bump into a man in the grocery store and find her partner in life.

Chris' gentle face flashed in her mind, leaving a cold chill to worm its way up her spine. If only she'd had more time with him before his death. If only she'd had more memories to carry with her. But she didn't. Even though she'd sent her Acknowledgment of Readiness to SSE when she was 18, Chris had waited years longer. When they'd finally met, he'd admitted that the whole process just seemed unnatural. But once he'd been introduced to Lyndsey, he'd fallen head of heels.

That was before he'd literally fallen head over heels from the top of the skyscraper during a construction job, and left her forever, only 2 weeks after they'd finally been introduced.

Now, all around her, couples passed, none bothering to look at her. They had eyes only for each other. They trusted the process at Soul Search, never doubting, never questioning, but blindly following. Never asking 'what if'? Neither had Lyndsey. Now she didn't have to ask 'what if' because she already knew. Once you lost your match, you were on your own in a world where people relied on the computer to guide their futures. Alone and without hope.

The fluttering a paper in her face pulled her from her thoughts. Looking up, she found herself mesmerized by the piercing gaze of the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. Chocolate eyes smiled at her from under dark, expressive brows. He held the paper out to her, waiting for her to take it. When she reached out and grasped it, he just turned and walked away. When he disappeared, alone, in the crowd she finally glanced down at the flyer she clutched in her hand.

Survivors Meeting

All are welcome

There is life after the

loss of your soul mate.

I'll be back...soon!

It has been a crazy year.... wait, really? The years almost over? And I still haven't written anything?  Well, the fact that I'm working full time (nursing) AND apprenticing for a new career (dog grooming) 5 days a week probably has something to do with it. But I digress. There are surely times when I could have found time to write.  So though things have been crazy and I've put my writing on the back burner, I resolve to get back to it. I just need to be inspired!

So what inspires me? Music, helping others, gardening, cooking, planning for the future... Any number of things inspire me when I'm in the right frame of mind.

So how do I get in the right frame of mind?  Take a little time for myself to relax and hear my inner voice.  Wait, I think I just discussed the time issue...

So how do I make more time for myself? Stop working? Stop apprenticing? Stop cooking and cleaning? Hmmm... OK, I undigress! (hey, the first creative thing I've done in months... I made up a word!)  I don't really have the time to write right now.... but I can promise myself that the time is coming soon.

In the immortal words of Arnold Schwartzenegger... "I'll be back!"

Writer's Defensive Line.

What do I write? Where do I go from here? Who ARE these people in my head?

Every now and then I face the well known opponent, Writer's Block.  And once in a great while, it's not just a block, it's an entire defensive line, keeping me from driving forward and making that first down.  Thats when I turn to my own offensive line to get the creative juices  flowing. Sometimes the difficulty is knowing which play to draw from my playbook.  This morning, I'm in the huddle, trying to pull out the play that will punch through those blockers, so I thought I would share some ideas for pushing farther down the field.

1. Don't take a knee: Just write.  No matter how bad the metaphors, how unorganized the line, or how big the gap in the score. Case in point, this blog!

2. Try a new/trick play: Find a site for writing prompts and just spend some time writing about something new. A short story, a description, an idea. Anything different that can get you're creative juices flowing again, then reapproach it. You may not have solved the problem but maybe you can come back to it with more confidence and energy.

3. Halftime Huddle: Talk to friends, critique partners, or anyone you find helpful. When you're behind and discouraged, sometimes you just need someone to remind you why you are putting yourself through this and give you a peptalk to get you through the end of the game. Sometimes just talking to yourself, out loud, is all you may need.

4. Warm up: Get out of that seat, take a walk, take a shower,  work out. Do something that invigorates your body and settles your mind.

5. Kick a Field Goal: Work on something else. A query letter, synopsis, another chapter... anything that gives you forward momentum.

6. Play street ball: When you find yourself stifled by your routine, change it up. Take your writing somewhere else- the park, the mall, any place that will help you find a new focus.

7. Take a time out to talk to the coach:  Utilize wisdom from other books, blogs, websites.

This morning I began reading "No More Rejections. 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells."
I'm not tackling the entire book at the moment, just started with the first chapter which happened to talk about the difference between an idea and a story.  I've been doing alot of brainstorming about ideas, but realized, none of them had become a story yet. And THAT, my friends, is where my trouble began this morning. I have been working on an idea, but didn't take the time to develop the idea into a story before writing.  I had no idea where to go with it because I hadn't really delved into who my characters are, why they do the things they do, what their weaknesses and strengths are, what they want in life. You get the idea.

When writer's block comes to play, tighten your offensive line, use all your players, and punch through until you finally score that touchdown.

Now I promise, no more football analogies for at least 6 months!